Lilaea was situated in northern Phokis and was special due to its abundant waters which from ancient times were connected to the sources of the river Kephissus. It was named after the nymph Lilaea, daughter of the deified rive Kephissus. Its inhabitants believed that the water of Kastalia was the present of  this river and thus some days of the year they threw sweets into the fountain, believing that they would surface in Kastalia. Homer, Strabo, Pausanias, Ptolemy and Plinius, all mention the city.

The area of Lilaea was inhabited since the 3rd millenium. The city was destroyed by Philip II of Macedonia in 346 B.C., during his systematic destruction of the Phocian cities. There are two phases of the fortifications: one before the Macedonian destruction and the second one, best preserved, after the restoration of this fortification in the course of the reconstruction of the Phocian cities in the late 4th century.