What Are The Royal Tombs At Aigai (Vergina) Museum?

Vergina is a small town in northern Greece, and forms part of the Verona municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. The town was founded in 1922 in the aftermath of the population exchanges after the Treaty of Lausanne and was a separate municipality until 2011. It then merged with Veroia under the Kallikratis Plan.

Today, Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai that was the first capital of Macedon. Philip II was assassinated in Aigai’s theatre in 336 BC and his son, Alexander the Great, was proclaimed king.

In 1977 the burial sites of several kings of Macedon were found at Vergina, including that of Philip II. It is also the site of a royal palace. The Archaeological Museum of Vergina was built to house all the artifacts found at the site.

The site has received UNESCO World Heritage status due to its 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.

 

 

History

The burial mounds around Vergina have been an interest to archaeologists as early as the 1850s. The French archaeologist Leon Heuzey, sponsored by Napoleon II, started excavating the area where he supposed the site of Aigai should be in 1861.

At Palatitsa, they discovered a large building that could be the palaces of Antigonus III Doson. Parts were destroyed by fire and Heuzey suggested that this was the site of the ancient city Valla. Excavations had to be halted because of malaria.

The University of Thessaloniki resumed excavations in 1937 and more ruins of the ancient palace was found. Once again excavations had to be halted with the outbreak of war with Italy 1940. After the war during the 1950s and 1960s excavations resumed and the royal capital was uncovered which included a theatre.

Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist, started excavating the site on a hill called the Great Tumulus in 1977, as he was convinced this was where the tombs of the Macedonian kings would be found. He found four buried tombs and claimed it was the burial site of the kings. It included the tomb of Phillip II, father of Alexander the Great as well as the tombs of Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander and Roxana.

A programme to preserve the Royal Tombs of Vergina (Aigai) was launched when the it was discovered. A laboratory was also built on the spot to save and restore the important portable objects founds. A subterranean structure was built in 1993 to encase and protect the ancient monuments that would contain a constant temperature and humidity which was essential for the preservation of the wall paintings.

Ten years later, in 1987, the burial cluster of the queens was discovered that included the tomb of Queen Eurydice. Five more royal tombs were excavated in 2014 that could be those of Alexander I of Macedon and his family.

The treasures found in the Royal Tombs has been on exhibit since 1997.

 

 

Interest For Today

The exhibition at the Royal Tombs at Vergina (Aigai) is dedicated to the memory of Professor Manolis Andronikos, who brought the treasures to light and recognise them for what they were. The cemetery of the tumuli extends for over 3 km and contains over 500 gravemounds of significant wealth, some dating as early as the 11^th century BC.

The museum of the tumulus of Philip II, was built over the tombs leaving them in situ and showing the tumulus as it was before the excavations. Inside are four tombs and a small temple built for the burial cluster. Two tombs contain the main treasures of the museum and the tomb of Philip II is in the two separate rooms.

In the main room items found included:

• A marble chest – embossed with the Vergina Sun symbol, with a larnax inside made of 24 carat gold, weighing 11 kilograms. Inside the chest lay the bones of the dead with a golden wreath weighing 717 grams.
• The golden and ivory panoply of the dead which is a carved burial bed on which the body was burnt
• Silver utensils for the burial feast
• Gold-adorned suits of armour
• Weapons
• Bronze funeral utensils

 

In the antechamber was another chest with a golden larnax holding the bones of a woman. She was wrapped in a golden-purple cloth with a golden diadem decorated with flowers and enamel, and would be the queen of Philip II, who according to tradition would have sacrificed herself at the king’s funeral.

There was also a burial bed and a golden wreath representing leaves and flowers of myrtle. A magnificent painting that measures 5.60 metres representing a hunting scene is found above the Doric order entrance to the tomb. It is believed to be the work of Philoxenias of Eretria.

A tomb next to that of Philip II, was unfortunately plundered, which could have been that of Nikissipoli, another of his queens. It also has a wall painting believed to be the work of Nikomachos.

The slightly smaller 3^rd tomb is believed to be that of Alexander IV the son of Alexander the Great. He was murdered 25 years after Philip II. It had two parts and the main room contained a cremated body. A silver hydria contained the cremated bones with a golden oak wreath on top of it. The tomb also had silver utensils and weapons. The walls were decorated with a frieze of a chariot race

The tombs discovered in the 1980s was damaged and plundered but had an entrance with four Doric columns. It could have belonged to Antigonus II Gonatas.

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 and her female relative. The tombs included about 26 small terracotta statues and one had a marble throne, identified as that of Eurydice, mother of Philip II.

The Tomb of the Roman is an elegant Macedonian tomb containing a throne, probably belonging to queen Thessalonike.

The most important building discovered at the site is the palace which is located on a plateau directly below the acropolis. Excavations date construction of the palace to the reign of Philip II and was probable designed by Pythias, a well-known architect of that time.

The theatre, also from the second half of the 4^th century BC, forms an integral part of the palace. The palace is not only the biggest but, together with the Parthenon, the most significant building of classical Greece. Restoration works on the palace are due to be completed by 2022.

 

Hours of Business

• Summer: 15 June to 31 October, Wednesday – Monday from 08:00 – 20:00
• Tuesday from 12:00 – 20:00
• Winter: 1 November to 31 March, Wednesday – Monday from 08:00 – 20:00
• Tuesday from 12:00 – 20:00

 

Holidays

• 1 May: closed
• Holy Spirit Day: 12:00 – 20:00
• 15 August: 12:00 – 20:00
• 28 October: 08:00 – 18:30

 

Tickets

• Full: €12, Reduced: €6
• From 1 November to 31 March each year, reduced price is valid for all visitors.
• The special ticket package is used only in the period from 1 April to 31 October 31.
• Special ticket package: Full: €15

 

This ticket is valid for

• Aigai, the archaeological site
• Archaeological Museum of Veria
• Byzantine Museum of Veria
• The Museum of the Royal Tombs at Aigai

 

Free admission days

• 6 March (in memory of Melina Mercouri)
• 18 April (International Monuments Day)
• 18 May (International Museums Day)
• The last weekend of September annually (European Heritage Days)
• National Holidays

 

Contact information

• Address: Τ.Κ. 59031, Vergina (Prefecture of Imathia)
• Coordination: 40°29′0″N, 22°19′0″E
• Telephone: +30 23310 92347
• Email: efahma@culture.gr

 

The Museum of the Royal Tombs and the surrounding area are wheelchair friendly. There is a shop with selected official copies from Greek antiquities, archaeological editions, and souvenirs, as well as a canteen.

 

How To Get There?

Vergina is located 8 kilometres southeast of Veria. There is regular Vergina-Veria transport. Veria is connected to Thessaloniki by road and rail with dense and regular itineraries (KTEL and OSE). There is also a direct connection between Veria and Athens.

Visitors can reach Vergina via train, bus, or private vehicle.