Vergina (in Greek Βεργίνα; also spelled Verghina) is a small town in northern Greece, in the district of Imathia in the province of Central Macedonia. It is about 13km south-east of the district centre of Veroia and about 80km south-west of Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia. It has a population of about two thousand people and stands on the foothills of Mount Pieria, at an elevation of 120m (360 ft) above sea level. The town is 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 town became internationally famous in 1977, when the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Although the identification of Philip II as one of the kings buried there has been disputed, 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. It therefore became the subject of international controversy in 1991 when the newly independent Republic of Macedonia used the symbol on its flag. This outraged Greek nationalist sentiment, which saw the use of the symbol as implying a territorial claim to Greek Macedonia. In 1995 Macedonia agreed to drop the use of the symbol.
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 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, and the rest of the royal capital was uncovered. Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the "Great Tumulus" (in Greek, Μεγάλη Τούμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian Kings.
[image] In 1977 Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Tumulus and found four buried chambers which he identified as tombs, hitherto undisturbed. Three more were found in 1980. Excavations continued through the 1980s and '90s. 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. A large quantity of works of art, many in gold, were removed from the tombs. These included the larnax with the Sun of Vergina on the lid, which Andronikos maintains contained the cremated remains of Philip II. These treasures were temporarily housed in the Thessaloniki Archeological Museum. Recently they were returned to Vergina and installed in a museum which has been built inside the Great Tumulus.
After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire was divided between a number of successors. Aigai remained the capital of the Macedonian kings. Under Antigonus II Gonatas in the 3rd century BC, the palace of Palatista was constructed at Aigai but was later partly destroyed by fire. More tombs were constructed during this period.
In 168 BC, the expanding Roman Republic invaded, overthrew the Antigonid dynasty and destroyed Aigai. It was later rebuilt but declined after the 1st century AD. The city was eventually abandoned.
The modern town of Vergina was founded in 1922 on the site of the two small agricultural villages of Koutles and Barbes. The name was suggested by the then Metropolitan of Veria, who named it after a legendary queen of ancient Beroea (the modern Veria) who had supposedly lived in the vicinity.
In 1996, the archaeological importance of Vergina led UNESCO to add it to its list of World Heritage Sites.