Current:Home > BackAfter 16-year restoration, Greece unveils palace where Alexander the Great became king-LoTradeCoin
After 16-year restoration, Greece unveils palace where Alexander the Great became king
View Date:2025-01-14 02:44:33
ANCIENT AIGAI, Greece (AP) — It was the largest building of classical Greece: the palace where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king before he launched a conquest that took him as far as modern-day Afghanistan.
The Palace of Aigai in northern Greece was fully reopened Friday following a 16-year renovation that cost more than 20 million euros ($22 million) and included financial support from the European Union.
It was built more than 2,300 years ago during the reign of Alexander’s father, Phillip II, who had transformed the kingdom of Macedonia into a dominant military power of ancient Greece. Aigai was its royal capital.
“After many years of painstaking work, we can reveal the palace … What we are doing today is an event of global importance,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at an inauguration event at the site Friday.
The palace contained column-rimmed courtyards, courts, places of worship, and spacious banquet halls, its floors decorated with patterned marble and intricate mosaics. The building covered a ground area of 15,000 sq. meters (160,000 sq feet), a little under the area covered by the U.S. Capitol building.
Shaped like two adjoining, unequally sized, square donuts, the Palace of Aigai was the administrative and spiritual center of the kingdom. The palace remains and nearby royal tombs are a United Nations World Heritage Site at the area next to the modern village of Vergina. Like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, the marble columns were resurrected by fitting pieces of stone unearthed in the ruins together with replica replacement parts.
Some 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of the port city of Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, Aigai drew international attention in the late 1970s during burial mound excavations in the area of rolling green hills with patches of wild poppies and daffodils.
The late Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos led the digs and discovered the royal tombs, recovering a gold casket and other gold artifacts as well as the bones widely believed to belong to Philip II. The discoveries revealed the sophistication of the ancient Macedonians, who had often been sidelined in historical accounts by attention on Athens.
Angeliki Kottaridi was still an archaeology student at university when she joined the project as a young assistant. She devoted her life’s work to the excavations and decades later became the driving force behind the new museum at Aigai, which opened a year ago, and the palace restoration.
She retired on Dec. 31 as head of the region’s archaeological service and was honored at Friday’s ceremony.
“What you discover is stones scattered in the dirt, and pieces of mosaics here and there,” Kottaridi told state television ahead of Friday’s inauguration.
“Then you have to assemble things and that’s the real joy of the researcher,” Kottariridi said. “So when people ask me what makes me happy, I tell them it’s not the moment something is revealed. It’s the moment you realize you can take the knowledge one step further.”
The renovated site will open to the public Sunday.
___
Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Kantouris reported from Thessaloniki, Greece, and Giannis Papanikos contributed from Ancient Aigai.
veryGood! (7219)
Related
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Messi's revenge game: Here's why Inter Miami vs. Monterrey is must-watch TV
- 'Fallout' is coming to Prime earlier than expected: Release date, time, cast, how to watch
- Are casino workers entitled to a smoke-free workplace? The UAW thinks so.
- Caitlin Clark has one goal for her LPGA pro-am debut: Don't hit anyone with a golf ball
- Inflation runs hot for third straight month, driven by gas prices and rent
- John Calipari hired as new Arkansas men's basketball coach
- Jay Leno granted conservatorship over estate of wife Mavis Leno amid dementia battle
- Lost luggage? This new Apple feature will let you tell the airline exactly where it is.
- This Is Not a Drill! Save Hundreds on Designer Bags From Michael Kors, Where You Can Score up to 87% Off
Ranking
- 2 credit unions in Mississippi and Louisiana are planning to merge
- Black-owned children's bookstore in North Carolina is closing over alleged threats
- Kentucky governor cites higher incarceration costs in veto of criminal justice bill
- World Athletics introduces prize money for track and field athletes at Paris Olympics
- World War II veteran reflects on life as he turns 100
- US Postal Service seeking to hike cost of first-class stamp to 73 cents
- Guests at the state dinner for Japan’s prime minister will share the feel of walking over a koi pond
- Mama June Shares How She’s Adjusting to Raising Late Daughter Anna Chickadee Cardwell’s 11-Year-Old
Recommendation
-
Police identify 7-year-old child killed in North Carolina weekend shooting
-
Everything to know about Masters 2024 at Augusta National: Start times, odds, TV info and more
-
New Zealand tightens visa rules as immigration minister says unsustainable numbers coming into the country
-
Texas Attorney General sues to stop guaranteed income program for Houston-area residents
-
US Open finalist Taylor Fritz talks League of Legends, why he hated tennis and how he copied Sampras
-
Biden's latest student-loan forgiveness plan brings questions for borrowers: What to know
-
Democrats lean into border security as it shapes contest for control of Congress
-
California student, an outdoor enthusiast, dies in accident on trip to Big Sur