The history of the famous Valley of the Muses on the eastern slopes of Mt. Helikon began in the 6th c. B.C. Its floruit period began from the 3rd c. B.C. onwards because of the "Mouseia", festivals established and oganised every 5 years by the Thespians. Poets and musicians from all over Greece also participated in various games (epic, poetry, rapsodia, kithara, aulos, satyric poetry, tragedy and comedy). In the 2nd and 1st c. B.C. were also added in the list game in honour of the roman emperor who from that time sponsored the whole organisation. The festivals were called onwards "Great Kaisareia" because the emperor was honored at first place and not the Muses. The winners dedicated their tripods to the sanctuay. Hesiod did the same after his victory in Chalkis. Many statues depicting the Muses, famous poets and musicians stood in the open-air space of the Valley.

In 1882 A. Stamatakis made the first test trench in the little church of Ayia Triada and noted the rectangular foundation of the small temple or altar of the Muses. He also indicated the remains of the theatre on the mountain slope. The French Archaeological School under P.Jamot excavated systematically in 1888, 1889 and 1890 at the site and discovered all the antiquites (G. Roux, Le Val des Muses et les Musees chez les auteurs anciens, in Bulletin de Correspondance Hellenique, 1954, 1, pp. 22-48).