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73-559: Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai ( Ancient Greek : Αἰγαί , Aigaí , Latinized : Aegae ), the first capital of Macedon . In 336 BC Philip II was assassinated in Aigai's theatre and his son, Alexander the Great , was proclaimed king. While the resting place of Alexander the Great is unknown, researchers uncovered three tombs at Vergina in 1977 – referred to as tombs I, II and III. Tomb I contained Philip II, Alexander

146-649: A lead scroll, dated to the first half of the 4th century BC (c. 375–350 BC). It was published in the Hellenic Dialectology Journal in 1993. It is one of four texts found until today that might represent a local dialectal form of ancient Greek in Macedonia, all of them identifiable as Doric. These confirm that a Doric Greek dialect was spoken in Macedonia, as was previously expected from the West Greek forms of names found in Macedonia. As

219-432: A golden oak wreath. There were also exquisite silver utensils and weaponry indicating royal status. A narrow frieze with a chariot race by a great painter decorated the walls of the tomb. The remains of a wooden mortuary couch adorned with gold and ivory is notable for an exquisite representation of Dionysos with a flute-player and a satyr. Tomb IV, discovered in 1980, had an impressive entrance with four Doric columns though

292-504: A golden-purple cloth with a golden diadem decorated with flowers and enamel, indicating a queen (probably Philip's Thracian wife, Meda ) who by tradition sacrificed herself at the funeral. Also included was another burial bed partially destroyed by the fire and on it a golden wreath representing leaves and flowers of myrtle . Above the Doric order entrance of the tomb is a magnificent wall painting measuring 5.6 metres (18 ft) representing

365-561: A hunting scene, believed to be the work of the celebrated Philoxenos of Eretria , and thought to show Philip and Alexander. Next to him in Tomb I a distinctive member of his family (probably Nicesipolis , another of his queens), was buried just a few years before in a cist grave, found unfortunately plundered. The only wall painting in the tomb pictures the Abduction of Persephone by the God of

438-511: A lion hunt and Dionysus riding a panther. In modern times it finds itself as the starting point of the Alexander The Great Marathon , in honour of the city's ancient heritage. The site was explored by 19th-century voyagers including Holand , François Pouqueville , Félix de Beaujour , Cousinéry, Delacoulonche, Hahn , Gustave Glotz and Struck, based on the descriptions provided by Titus Livius . The first excavation

511-420: A misaligned tibia (Philip II was recorded as having broken his tibia). Also, the remains of the skull show damage to the right eye caused by the penetration of an object (historically recorded to be an arrow). The most recent research gives further evidence that Tomb II contains the remains of Philip II . Palace of Aigai The most important building discovered is the monumental palace. Located on

584-507: A plateau directly below the acropolis, this building of two or perhaps three stories is centred on a large open courtyard flanked by Doric colonnades. On the north side was a large gallery with a view of the stage of the neighbouring theatre and the whole Macedonian plain. The palace was sumptuously decorated, with mosaic floors, painted plastered walls, and fine relief tiles. The masonry and architectural members were covered with high-quality marble stucco. Excavations have dated its construction to

657-399: A publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). "Edessa". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. [REDACTED] Media related to Aigai (Vergina) at Wikimedia Commons 40°28′45″N 22°19′29″E  /  40.479304°N 22.324777°E  / 40.479304; 22.324777 Pella Pella ( Greek : Πέλλα )

730-417: A series of rooms around a central courtyard, generally with porticos. The oldest parts date from the time of Philip II, 350-330 BC, and the palace was further developed over time. The south facade of the palace, towards the city, consisted of one large (at least 153 metres long) portico, constructed on a 2 m-high foundation. The relationship between the four principal complexes is defined by an interruption in

803-581: A similar development as other ancient Greek cities. In the 7th century BC, the Temenids ' dominance led to the Macedonians expanding and subduing local populations until the end of the 6th century BC, and establishing the dynasty at Aigai. Ancient sources give conflicting accounts of the origins of the Argead dynasty . Alexander I is the first truly historic figure and, based on the line of succession,

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876-554: A stag, a familiar motif also of Scythian art, another depicts Dionysus riding a leopard. These mosaics adorned the floors of rich houses, often named after their representations, particularly the Houses of Helen and Dionysus. The palace is situated on a 70 m high hill north of the city, a strategic position commanding the entire area and occupying a vast area of 75,000 m . It consisted of several large architectural groupings on terraces ascending from south-west to north-east, each with

949-667: A stone foundation; some of which has been located North of the palace, and some in the South next to the lake. Inside the ramparts, three hills occupy the North. In pride of place in the centre of the city is the Agora, built in the last quarter of the 4th century BC and an architectural gem, unique in conception and size; it covered ~ 7 hectares or 10 city blocks. Pella is one of the first known cities to have had an extensive piped water supply to individual house and waste water disposal from most of

1022-453: Is also etymologized as "city of goats" (from αἴξ, aíks , "goat") by Diodorus Siculus , who reports it was named so by Perdiccas I who was advised by the Pythian priestess to build the capital city of his kingdom where goats led him. Archaeologic evidence shows that Aigai developed as an organized collection of villages, spatially representing the aristocratic structure of tribes centred on

1095-472: Is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia , Greece . It served as the capital of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon . Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella . Pella was probably founded at the beginning of the 4th century BC by Archelaus I as the new capital of Macedon, supplanting Aigai . The city was the birthplace of Philip II in 382 BC, and of Alexander

1168-700: Is considered to be not only the biggest but, together with the Parthenon , one of the most significant buildings of classical Greece. In 1996, the archaeological site of Aigai was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of its monumental significance in Western civilization and exceptional architecture. In 1977, Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos started excavating the Great Tumulus at Aegae and found that two of

1241-646: Is further mentioned by Polybius and Livy as the capital of Philip V and of Perseus during the Macedonian Wars fought against the Roman Republic . In 168 BC, it was sacked by the Romans , and its treasury transported to Rome. Livy reported how the city looked in 167 BC to Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus , the Roman who defeated Perseus at the battle of Pydna : Pella was declared capital of

1314-493: Is heavily damaged and may have contained valuable treasures. It was built in the 4th century BC and may have belonged to Antigonus II Gonatas . The great tumulus was constructed at the beginning of the third century BC (by Antigonos Gonatas) perhaps over smaller individual tumuli to protect the royal tombs from further pillaging after marauding Galati had looted and destroyed the cemetery. The hill material contained many earlier funeral stele. The most important building discovered

1387-506: Is identified as that of Eurydice , mother of Philip II. The so-called "Ionic Tomb" or "Rhomaios's Tomb", named after its excavator, Konstantinos Rhomaios, is an elegant Macedonian tomb with an Ionic facade consisting of four engaged columns crowned by a painted floral frieze, now no longer visible because of weathering. It contained a marble throne with armrests supported by sphinxes. Aegae (Macedonia) Aegae or Aigai ( Ancient Greek : Αἰγαί ), also Aegeae or Aigeai ( Αἰγέαι )

1460-544: Is the monumental palace. Located on a plateau directly below the acropolis, this building of two or perhaps three stories is centred on a large open courtyard flanked by Doric colonnades. On the north side was a large gallery with a view of the stage of the neighbouring theatre and the whole Macedonian plain. The palace was sumptuously decorated, with mosaic floors, painted plastered walls, and fine relief tiles. The masonry and architectural members were covered with high-quality marble stucco. Excavations have dated its construction to

1533-533: Is up to 15 metres wide. This street is the primary access to the central public agora , which occupied a space of ten blocks. Two North-South streets are also a bit wider than the rest, and serve to connect the city to the port further South. This type of plan dates to the first half of the 4th century BC, and is very close to the ideal in design, though it distinguishes itself by large block size; Olynthus in Chalcidice for example had blocks of 86.3×35 metres. On

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1606-554: The heirs of Alexander in the 3rd century adversely affected the city; in 276 BC Gallic mercenaries of Pyrrhus plundered many of the tombs. After the overthrow of the Macedonian kingdom by the Romans in 168 BC , both old and new capitals were destroyed, the walls pulled down and all buildings burned. In the 1st century AD, a landslide destroyed what had been rebuilt (excavations establish that parts were still inhabited then). In

1679-516: The "hearth" of the Macedonian kingdom and the burial place for their kings. These were the Temenid dynasty, which descended from the Perdiccas . The body of Alexander the Great was to have reposed at Aegae, where his father Philip II of Macedon fell by the hand of Pausanias of Orestis but it was taken to Memphis through the intrigues of Ptolemy I Soter . The recently excavated palace

1752-400: The 2nd or 3rd century BC. Overall, archaeologists have uncovered 1,000 tombs at Pella since 2000, but these only represent an estimated 5% of those at the site. In 2009 43 graves containing rich and elaborate grave goods were found and in 2010 37 tombs dating from 650 to 280 BC were discovered containing rich ancient Macedonian artifacts ranging from ceramics to precious metals. One of the tombs

1825-464: The 2nd to 5th centuries AD the population gradually moved from the foothills of the Pierian range to the plain, and all that remained was a small settlement whose name alone Palatitsia (palace) indicated its former importance. The modern settlement of Vergina was established in 1922, between two preexisting villages, " Kutlesh " (Κούτλες, Koútles ) and " Barbes " (Μπάρμπες, Bármpes ), formerly part of

1898-510: The 3rd administrative division of the Roman province of Macedonia , and was possibly the seat of the Roman governor. Activity continued to be vigorous until the early 1st century BC and, crossed by the Via Egnatia , Pella remained a significant point on the route between Dyrrachium and Thessalonica . In about 90 BC the city was destroyed by an earthquake ; shops and workshops dating from

1971-554: The 6th and 5th centuries BC belonging to members of the Macedonian dynasty and their courts. The Cluster of the Queens includes cist and pit tombs dating to the Greco-Persian Wars era, two of which probably belong to the mother and spouse of Alexander I: the all golden "Lady of Aigai" and her female relative, in whose funeral at least twenty-six small terracotta statues. One from around 340 BC with an imposing marble throne

2044-672: The Great , his son, in 356 BC. Pella quickly became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under the rule of Cassander and Antigonus II . In 168 BC the city was sacked by the Romans during the Third Macedonian War and entered a long period of decline, its importance eclipsed by that of the nearby Thessalonica . The name is probably derived from the word pella , ( Ancient Greek : πέλλα ), "stone" which seems to appear in some other toponyms in Greece like Pellene . Julius Pokorny reconstructs

2117-414: The Great's father , tomb II belonged to Philip III of Macedon , Alexander the Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained Alexander IV , Alexander the Great's son. Tomb I had been looted; Tombs II and III were intact and contained an array of burial goods. The ancient town was also the site of an extensive royal palace. The archaeological museum of Vergina was built to house all the artifacts found at

2190-478: The Greek world; for example, it was at Aigai that Euripides wrote and presented his last tragedies. At the beginning of the 4th century BC, Archelaus transferred the Macedonian capital northeast to Pella on the central Macedonian plain. Nevertheless, Aigai retained its role as the sacred city of the Macedonian kingdom, the site of the traditional cult centres, a royal palace and the royal tombs . For this reason it

2263-871: The Ottoman Beylik of Palatitsia. In the 19th century, both Kutlesh and Barbes were Greek villages in the Ber Kaza of the Ottoman Empire. Several inhabitants of the two villages took part in the Greek uprising of 1821. Alexander Sinve (Les Grecs de l'Empire Ottoman. Etude Statistique et Ethnographique) wrote in 1878 that 120 Greeks lived in Barbas. According to the statistics of Vasil Kanchov ("Macedonia. Ethnography and Statistics"), in 1900, 60 Greek Christians lived in Kutlesh and 50 in Barbes. The town of Vergina

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2336-530: The Underworld, the silent Demeter and the three unprejudiced Fates with Hermes, the Guide of Souls, leading the way, and a scared nymph witnessing the horrifying event. This is a unique example of ancient painting, believed to be the work of the famous painter Nicomachus of Thebes , as well as one of the few surviving depictions of the ancient mystic views of afterlife. In 1978 Tomb III was discovered, also near

2409-406: The beginnings of the Macedonian dynasty have been traditionally dated to 750 BC. Herodotus says that the Argead dynasty was an ancient Greek royal house led by Perdiccas I who fled from Argos in about 650 BC. Aigai is the name of several ancient Greek cities (see Aegean Sea#Etymology ). Their name is often derived from the name of a legendary founder, Aegeus . In the case of this city, it

2482-549: The catastrophe have been found with remains of their merchandise, though the city was eventually rebuilt over its ruins. Cicero stayed there in 58 BC, though by then the provincial seat had already transferred to Thessalonica Pella was promoted to a Roman Colony sometime between 45 and 30 BC and its currency was marked Colonia Iulia Augusta Pella . Augustus settled peasants there whose land he had usurped to give to his veterans. But, unlike other Macedonian colonies such as Philippi , Dion , and Cassandreia , it never came under

2555-655: The city near the lagoon continued to be occupied until the 4th century. In about AD 180, Lucian of Samosata could describe it in passing as "now insignificant, with very few inhabitants". It later temporarily bore the name Diocletianopolis . In the Byzantine period, the Roman site was occupied by a fortified village. Excavations there by the Greek Archaeological Service begun in 1957 revealed large, well-built houses with colonnaded courts and rooms with mosaic floors portraying such scenes as

2628-418: The city. The agora was surrounded by the shaded colonnades of stoas , and streets of enclosed houses with frescoed walls round inner courtyards. The first trompe-l'œil wall murals imitating perspective views ever seen were on walls at Pella. There were temples to Aphrodite, Cybele and Demeter . Pella's pebble-mosaic floors are famous: some reproduce Greek paintings; one shows a lion-griffin attacking

2701-476: The excavations. More ruins of the ancient palace were found, but the excavations were abandoned on the outbreak of war with Italy in 1940. After the war the excavations were resumed, and during the 1950s and 1960s the rest of the royal capital was uncovered, including the theatre. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the Great Tumulus (Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed

2774-558: The family of Cassander of Macedon. Some artifacts excavated at Vergina may be treated as influenced by Asian practices or even imported from Achaemenid Persia in late 6th and early 5th centuries BC, which is during the time Macedon was under the Persian sway. In 2023, nearly 50 years later, a study led by professor of anthropology at the Democritus University of Thrace Antonios Bartsiokas 'conclusively' revealed that

2847-456: The first half of the 5th century BC Aigai became the capital of Macedonia. Life reached unseen levels of luxury and to meet the needs of the court merchants from all over the ancient world brought to Aigai valuable goods including perfume, carved ornaments and jewellery. The city wall was built in the 5th century, probably by Perdiccas II . At the end of the 5th century Archelaus I brought to his court artists, poets, and philosophers from all over

2920-399: The four tombs in the tumulus were undisturbed since antiquity. Moreover, these two, and particularly Tomb II, contained fabulous treasures and objects of great quality and sophistication. Although there was much debate for some years, Tomb II has been shown to be that of Philip II as indicated by many features, including the greaves , one of which was shaped consistently to fit a leg with

2993-416: The jurisdiction of ius Italicum or Roman law. Four pairs of colonial magistrates ( duumvirs quinquennales ) are known for this period. The ruin of the city is described by Dio Chrysostom and Lucian though their accounts may be exaggerated, as the Roman city occupied the west of the original capital and coinage indicates prosperity. Despite its decline, archaeology has shown that the southern part of

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3066-451: The location where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king in 336 BC. The site of the palace lost significance for Macedonian Royalty after it (and the rest of the city) was burned down in 168 BCE after the Battle of Pydna , despite the city remaining for another three centuries. A landslide in the first century AD preserved what was left of the ruins, leaving about 3-4 m of soil on top of

3139-479: The location where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king in 336 BC. The Palace of Aigai reopened to the public in January 2024 after an extensive 16 year restoration. The cemetery of the tumuli extends for over 3 km (1.9 mi) and contains over 500 grave-mounds of significant wealth, some dating as early as the 11th century BC. To the north-west of the ancient city is the important group of tombs from

3212-582: The main treasures of the museum. Tomb II of Philip II , the father of Alexander was discovered in 1977 and was separated in two rooms. The main room included a marble chest, and in it was the Golden Larnax made of 24-carat gold and weighing 11 kilograms (24 lb), embossed with the Vergina Sun symbol. Inside the golden larnax the bones of the dead were found and a golden wreath of 313 oak leaves and 68 acorns, weighing 717 grams (25.3 oz). In

3285-408: The monument. The Palace of Aigai reopened to the public in January 2024 after an extensive 16 year restoration. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). "Aegae". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

3358-578: The other hand, later Hellenistic urban foundations have blocks comparable to those of Pella: 112×58 m in Laodicea ad Mare , or 120×46 m in Aleppo . The city is built on the former island of Phacos , a promontory which dominated the sea to the south in the Hellenistic period . The city wall mentioned by Livy is only partly known. It consists of a rampart of crude bricks (~ 50 cm square) raised on

3431-401: The palace's main peristyle have been reconstructed, some towering to a height of 25 ft. The frieze on the peristyle's southern section has also been reconstructed. Over 5,000 square feet of mosaics depicting a range of scenes, including the ravishing of Europa and motifs from nature have been carefully conserved. The Palace of Aigai is the largest building of classical Greece and is

3504-400: The palace's main peristyle have been reconstructed, some towering to a height of 25 ft. The frieze on the peristyle's southern section has also been reconstructed. Over 5,000 square feet of mosaics depicting a range of scenes, including the ravishing of Europa and motifs from nature have been carefully conserved. The Palace of Aigai is the largest building of classical Greece and is

3577-419: The palace. Designed on a grid plan as envisaged by Hippodamus , it consists of parallel streets which intersect at right angles and form a grid of eight rows of rectangular blocks. The blocks are of a consistent width—each approximately 45 m—and of a length which varies from 111 m to 152 m, 125 metres being the most common. The streets are from 9 to 10 metres wide, except for the middle East–West arterial, which

3650-469: The poet Timotheus of Miletus and the Athenian playwright Euripides who finished his days there writing and producing Archelaus . Euripides' Bacchae was first staged here, about 408 BC. According to Xenophon , in the beginning of the 4th century BC Pella was the largest Macedonian city. It was the birthplace and seats of Philip II , in 382 BC and of Alexander the Great , his son, in 356 BC. It

3723-410: The portico occupied by a triple propylaeum , 15 m high, which gave the palace an imposing monumental air when seen from the city below. Archaeologists have also identified a palaestra and baths dating from the reign of Cassander . The size of the complex indicates that, unlike the palace at Vergina , this was not only a royal residence or a grandiose monument but also a place of government which

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3796-575: The power of the king. It remained so throughout its history. Indeed, Aigai never became a large city and most of its inhabitants lived in surrounding villages. The walled asty (acropolis) was built at the centre of Aigai. From Aigai the Macedonians spread to the central part of Macedonia and displaced the local population of Pierians . From 513 to 480 BC Aigai was part of the Persian Empire , but Amyntas I managed to keep its relative independence, avoid satrapy and extend its possessions. In

3869-549: The prefix "α" it forms the word ἀπέλλα , apella , "fence, enclosure of stones". Robert Beekes relates the word πέλλα with the name of the city, but suggests that it probably has pre-Greek origin. In antiquity, Pella was a strategic port connected to the Thermaic Gulf by a navigable inlet , but the harbour and gulf have since silted up, leaving the site inland. Pella is first mentioned in relation to Xerxes ' campaign and in relation to Macedonian expansion and

3942-495: The reign of Philip II, even though he also had a palace in the capital, Pella . It has been suggested that the building was designed by the architect Pytheos of Priene , known for his work on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and for his views on urban planning and architectural proportions. The theatre, also from the second half of the 4th century BC, was closely associated with the palace. Nearly 30 large columns that surrounded

4015-439: The reign of Philip II, even though he also had a palace in the capital, Pella . It has been suggested that the building was designed by the architect Pytheos of Priene , known for his work on the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and for his views on urban planning and architectural proportions). The theatre, also from the second half of the 4th century BC, was closely associated with the palace. Nearly 30 large columns that surrounded

4088-407: The room were also found the golden and ivory panoply of the dead, the richly carved burial bed on which he was laid and later burned and exquisite silver utensils for the funeral feast. Other magnificent items include several gold-adorned suits of armour, weapons, and bronze funeral utensils. In the antechamber was another chest with another golden larnax containing the bones of a woman wrapped in

4161-616: The site and is one of the most important museums in Greece. Aigai has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status as "an exceptional testimony to a significant development in European civilization, at the transition from classical city-state to the imperial structure of the Hellenistic and Roman periods". The area within 7 km of the later city was occupied by villages forming an important population centre by 1000BC. This has been shown by archaeology since 1995. Aigai followed

4234-515: The skeleton long identified as belonging to Alexander IV of Macedon is in fact his father Philip II of Macedon , and vice versa: Tomb I contained Philip II, Alexander the Great's father , tomb II belonged to Philip III of Macedon , Alexander the Great's half-brother, while tomb III contained Alexander IV , Alexander the Great's son. Tomb I also contained the remains of a woman and a baby, who Bartsiokas identified as Philip II's young wife Cleopatra Eurydice and their newborn child. Cleopatra Eurydice

4307-400: The tomb of Philip, which is thought to belong to Alexander IV of Macedon , son of Alexander the Great , murdered 25 years after Philip's assassination. It is slightly smaller than Tomb II and was also not sacked. It was also arranged in two parts, but only the main room contained a cremated body. On a stone pedestal was found a fine silver hydria , which contained the cremated bones, and on it

4380-426: The tombs of the Macedonian kings. In 1977, Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Great Tumulus and found four buried tombs, two of which had never been disturbed. Andronikos identified that these were the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II , father of Alexander the Great (Tomb II) and also of Alexander IV of Macedon , son of Alexander the Great and Roxana (Tomb III). This view

4453-471: The war against Sitalces , the king of the Thracians . It was probably built as the commercial capital of the kingdom of Macedon by Archelaus I , complementing the older palace-city of Aigai although there appears to be some possibility that it may have been created by Amyntas III . Archelaus invited the painter Zeuxis , the greatest painter of the time, to decorate his palace. He also later hosted

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4526-497: The word from the Proto-Indo-European root peli-s, pel-s, Old Indian : pāsāna, stone (from *pars, *pels), Greek : πέλλα , λίθος , stone, Hesychius (*pelsa), Pashto : parša (*plso), cliff, Germanic  : *falisa, German : Fels, Old Norse : fell (*pelso), Illyrian : *pella, *palla. Solders in an essay on Hesychius glossary has referenced πέλλα (pella), λίθος (stone) as an ancient Macedonian word. With

4599-511: Was already a walled city in the time of Philip II and he made the city of great international importance. It became the largest and richest city in Macedonia and flourished particularly under Cassander 's rule who redesigned and expanded it. The reign of Antigonus most likely represented the height of the city's prosperity, as this is the period which has left the most archaeological remains. The famous poet Aratus died in Pella c. 240 BC. Pella

4672-430: Was assassinated along with her newborn child. The museum of the tumulus of Philip II, which was inaugurated in 1993, was built over the tombs leaving them in situ and showing the tumulus as it was before the excavations. Inside the museum there are four tombs and one small temple, the heroon built as the temple for the burial cluster of Philip II. The two most important tombs (II and III) were not sacked and contained

4745-417: Was begun by G. Oikonomos in 1914–15. The modern systematic exploration of the site began in 1953 and work has continued since then uncovering significant parts of the extensive city. In February 2006, a farmer accidentally uncovered the largest tomb ever found in Greece. The names of the noble ancient Macedonian family are still on inscriptions and painted sculptures and walls have survived. The tomb dates to

4818-570: Was challenged by some archaeologists, and in 2010 research based on detailed study of the skeletons, vindicated Andronikos and supports the evidence of facial asymmetry caused by a possible trauma of the cranium of the male, evidence that is consistent with the history of Philip II. From 1987 the burial cluster of the queens was discovered including the tomb of Queen Eurydice . In March 2014, five more royal tombs were discovered in Vergina, possibly belonging to Alexander I of Macedon and his family or to

4891-491: Was considered to be one of the palaces of Antigonus III Doson (263–221 BC), partly destroyed by fire, were discovered near Palatitsa, which preserved the memory of a palace in its modern name. However, the excavations had to be abandoned because of the risk of malaria . The excavator suggested that this was the site of the ancient city Valla, a view that prevailed until 1976. In 1937, the University of Thessaloniki resumed

4964-432: Was here that Philip II was attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to King Alexander of Epirus when he was murdered by one of his bodyguards in the theatre. His was the most lavish funeral ceremony of historic times held in Greece. Laid on an elaborate gold and ivory deathbed wearing his precious golden oak wreath, the king was surrendered, like a new Hercules, to the funeral pyre. The bitter struggles between

5037-462: Was incorporated into Veroia . The population of Vergina municipality as of 2011 was 2,464, of whom 1,242 lived in Vergina proper. Archaeologists were interested in the burial mounds around Vergina as early as the 1850s, supposing that the site of Aigai was in the vicinity. Excavations began in 1861 under the French archaeologist Léon Heuzey , sponsored by Napoleon III . Parts of a large building that

5110-499: Was required to accommodate a significant portion of the administrative apparatus of the kingdom. The question of what language was spoken in ancient Macedonia has been debated by the scholars. The discovery of the Pella curse tablet in 1986, found in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedon , has given us a text written in a distinct Doric Greek idiom. Ιt contains a curse or magic spell ( Greek : κατάδεσμος, katadesmos ) inscribed on

5183-553: Was settled in the course of the population exchange between Greece and Turkey following the Treaty of Lausanne , by Greek families from Asia Minor. The name "Vergina" was a suggestion by the metropolitan of Veroia, chosen from a legendary queen Vergina (Bergina), who was said to have ruled somewhere north of the Haliacmon and to have had her summer palace near Palatitsia. Vergina was a separate municipality from 1922 until 2011, when it

5256-533: Was the final resting place of a warrior from the 6th century BC with a bronze helmet with a gold mouthplate, weapons and jewellery. Since 2011, much of the Palace of Pella has been excavated and from 2017 parts of it have been restored. It is expected to open to the public in 2024. Many artefacts are displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Pella . The city proper was located south of and below

5329-593: Was the original capital of Macedon , an ancient kingdom in Emathia in northern Greece. Its site is located within the modern town of Vergina . The seat of government was later transferred to Pella , which was located on a coastal waterway of the Thermaic Gulf. The current plain of central Macedonia did not yet exist, its area being divided between Lake Ludias and marshland. The plain was created by draining and infilling in modern times. The old capital remained

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