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Archaeological site of Amfipolis

Updated: May 10, 2019

Amfipolis is an ancient city located at around 25 kilometers from Asprovalta, after the bridge of Strimona. Amphipolis, an Athenian colony, was the seat of the battle between the Spartans and Athenians in 422 BC, and also the place where Alexander the Great prepared for campaigns leading to his invasion of Asia. Alexander's three finest admirals, Nearchus, Androsthenes and Laomedon, resided in Amphipolis, which is also the place where, after Alexander's death, his wife Roxana and their small son Alexander IV were exiled and later murdered.




By Johny SYSEL - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12316213
Map of amfipolis_Image By Johny SYSEL - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12316213

Excavations in and around the city have revealed important buildings, ancient walls and tombs. The finds are displayed at the archaeological museum of Amphipolis. At the nearby vast Kasta burial mound, an ancient Macedonian tomb has recently been revealed. The Lion of Amphipolis monument nearby is a popular destination for visitors.






The site was discovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), Leon Heuzey (1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). However, excavations did not truly begin until after the Second World War. The Greek Archaeological Society under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the city wall, the basilicas, and the acropolis. Further excavations have since uncovered the river bridge, the gymnasium, Greek and Roman villas and numerous tombs etc.





Parts of the lion monument and tombs were discovered during World War I by Bulgarian and British troops whilst digging trenches in the area. In 1934, M. Feyel, of the École française d'Athènes (EfA), led an epigraphical mission to the site and uncovered further remains of the lion monument (a reconstruction was given in the Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, a publication of the EfA which is available on line).


The silver ossuary containing the cremated remains of Brasidas and a gold crown was found in a tomb in pride of place under the Agora.





Kasta Tomb


In 2012 Greek archaeologists unearthed a large tomb within the Kasta Hill, the biggest burial mound in Greece, northeast of Amphipolis. The large size of the tumulus indicates the prominence of the burials made there. The perimeter wall of the tumulus is 497m long, and is made of limestone covered with marble.

The Kasta Tomb also known as the Amphipolis Tomb is an ancient Macedonian tomb that was discovered inside the Kasta mound near Amphipolis, Central Macedonia, in northern Greece in 2012 and first entered in August 2014. The first excavations at the mound in 1964 led to exposure of the perimeter wall, and further excavations in the 1970s uncovered many other ancient remains.


The recently discovered tomb is dated to the last quarter of the 4th century B.C. The tumulus is the largest ever discovered in Greece and by comparison dwarfs that supposedly of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, in Vergina. The excavation team, based on findings unearthed at the site, argued that the tomb was a memorial dedicated to the close friend of Alexander the Great, Hephaestion.


By Magikos fakos http://greektoys.org/ - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36129462
By Magikos fakos http://greektoys.org/ - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36129462

More information about the archaelogical site you can find in http://amphipolis.gr/



Source: Wikipedia


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