Encyclopedia Britannica:
Learn how Vergina, Macedonia received its name and see the ancient remains of this area.
Vergina is situated close to the site of ancient Aigai (or Aegae), once the royal capital of ancient Macedon, ruled by the Argead dynasty from about 650 BC onwards. The ruins of another Aigai, one of the Aeolian dodecapolis, lie 35 km S of Pergamon, by the modern Aiolis, Turkey.
The entrance to the "Great Tumulus" Museum at Vergina.
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 Palatista were discovered. However, the excavations had to be abandoned because of the risk of malaria.
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 1939. After the war the excavations were resumed and during the 1950s and 1960s the rest of the royal capital was uncovered. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the "Great Tumulus" (in Greek, Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian Kings. In 1977, Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Tumulus and found four buried chambers which he identified as hitherto undisturbed tombs. Three more were found in 1980. Excavations continued through the 1980s and 1990s. Andronikos claimed that these were the burial sites of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Andronikos maintained that one of the tombs was of Philip II, and another was of Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander the Great. This has now become the firm view of Greek archaeologists and the Greek government, but some other archaeologists dispute this identification(Citation needed). Nevertheless there is no doubt that the site is of great archaeological importance.
The larnax (gold casket) which Andronikos identified as containing the remains of Philip II has a symbol of a sun or star on its lid, and this Vergina Sun has been adopted as a symbol of Greek Macedonia.
Tags: Documentary Ancient History Macedonians Discovery King Alexander the Great Greek Manolis Andronikos Thessaloniki Greece
