The walled city of the ancient Molossoi at Orraon was founded in the reign of Alketas (385-370 BC), king of the Molossians, or at the latest in the second quarter of the 4th century BC. It was destroyed by the Romans in 167 BC, rebuilt, and finally abandoned after 31 BC during the enforced colonisation of Nikopolis.
Orraon was a fortress city, with narrow roads, no public spaces, water wells and a wall reinforced by ramparts. Its plan comprises 12 narrow parallel roads running north-south, crossed by two wider streets to form long, narrow blocks 15 m wide, each usually containing a single house. The stone-built houses are impressively preserved, with the walls of their upper floors often still standing, complete with windows, door jambs and frames.
Archaeological excavation began at Orraon in 1972 and continued in the 1980s under professor Sotirios Dakaris of the University of Ioannina, in collaboration with the German Archaeological Institute.
