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A
highly important ancient city, certainly
to be identified with Aegae, the first ancient capital of the kingdom of Macedonia, spreads over the low hills in the northern slopes of' the Pierian range,
between the modern villages of Palatitsia and Vergina.
This city was the most important urban centre in the region until the 4th c. BC.
Here were to be found the ancestral sanctuaries of the Macedonians, and the
palaces
and the tombs (with their famous treasures) of the Argead dynasty, which traced
its origins to the mythical hero Heracles and gave Greek history its most
captivating figure, Alexander the Great.
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In ancient pole of royal authority, Aegae retained the prestige of the sacred
city of the dynasty
even after the administrative capital was transferred to Pella in the 4th c, BC.
The site was the headquarters and the scene of the activities of kings such as
Alexander I (495-452 BC) and Archelaos (413-399 BC), who made his court a centre
of literature and arts, attracting to it the most famous artists and
intellectuals of his age; and it was here, in September 336 BC, after the murder
of Philip II
in the theatre of the city, that Alexander the Great (336-323 BC) was proclaimed
king.
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Macedonian tombs, the most outstanding of which is the tomb that
probably belonged to Philipp's mother, Queen Eurydike, which has a brilliantly
decorated marble throne.
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Archaeologists were interested in the hills around
Vergina as early as the 1850s, knowing that the site of Aigai was in the
vicinity and suspecting that the hills were burial mounds. Excavations
began in 1861 under the French archaeologist Leon Heuzey, sponsored by the
Emperor Napoleon III. Parts of the Macedonian royal palace of Palatitsa
were discovered. In 1937, the University of Thessaloniki resumed 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. The Greek archaeologist Andronikos became
convinced that a hill called the "Great Tumulus" concealed
the tombs of the Macedonian King |
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And the unlaundered royal tombs
brought to light by the spade of Manolis Andronikos, one of which was the tomb
of Philip II himself, have enriched the cultural heritage of the world with a
series of brilliant works of miniature art and unique original examples of
ancient Greek painting, the work of
known artists.
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Destinations in Greece
Andronikos maintained that one of the tombs was of Philip II, and
another was of
Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander the Great and Roxana
and this has now become the firm view of archaeologists and the Greek
government.
 You can view our portfolio of photos at
http://www.panoramio.com/user/45649/tags/Aegae-Vergina
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