It is an exceptional tour that takes you through the Garden of Macedonia, a valley full of vineyards and fruit trees. You will travel from Thessalonica to Pella, which was the Ancient Capital of Macedonia and the birth place of Alexander the Great. The taxi driver will take you around the excavations, and will show you the remains of the buildings and streets with their mosaics. All of them are dated back to the 4th Century B.C
Next place that you will visit is Edessa with its unique waterfalls, which was The Home of The Legendary King Midas. You will proceed to Naoussa for lunch and then to Veria, where you will have the chance to follow the footsteps of Saint Paul. The last stop will be in Vergina, where you will admire the museum and visit the Royal Tombs. One of the tombs belongs to Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.
Vergina a small town in northern Greece, located in the prefecture of Imathia, Central Macedonia. The town bacame famous in 1977 when the Greek archaeologist Andronikos Manolis unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. Population: about 2,000 people. The most important monuments are:
ROYAL TOMBS IN THE GREAT TUMULUS:
This group includes three Macedonian tombs and one cist-grave. One of them was the tomb of king Philip II and another probably belonged to king Alexander IV. These two graves were found unplundered and are lavishly decorated with splendid wall paintings, made by great and famous artists.
PALACE & THEATER:
These two important monuments are parts of the same complex, dated to the 4th century B.C. The palace is organized around a large, central peristyle court and comprises a circular shrine (Tholos) dedicated to Herakles Patroos, and luxurious banquet halls for the king and his officers. One of these rooms includes a fine mosaic floor.
TEMPLE OF EUKLEIA:
It lies to the north of the theatre and includes two temples of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., a monumental peristyle and a series of offerings among which two bases of the votive statues dedicated by queen Eurydice, grandmother of Alexander The Great.
ACROPOLIS AND CITY WALLS:
It is located on a steep hill to the south of the settlement. The fortification wall extends to the east of the city. Excavations on the acropolis have revealed parts of the circuit wall and Hellenistic houses in the enclosed area. The fortification of Aigai dates to the early Hellenistic period (end of 4th-beginning of 3rd century BC).
ROYAL TOMBS (to the NW of the city):
Two Macedonian tombs are included in this group, the so-called “Rhomaios Tomb”, an Ionic, temple-shaped structure, dated to the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. and the “Tomb of Eurydice”, which probably belongs to the mother of Philip II and is dated to ca. 340 B.C. To the same group also belong three cist-graves dating from the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., as well as four pit-graves of the late Archaic period.
TOMBS IN THE BELLA TUMULUS:
Three Macedonian tombs and one cist-grave dating from the Hellenistic period were found in the tumulus. One of the Macedonian tombs is decorated with an interesting wall painting and another contains an elegant marble funerary couch.
CEMETERY OF THE TUMULI:
This is the imposing necropolis of the Iron Age (11th-8th centuries B.C.), which includes more than 300 small earthen tumuli, constructed over clusters of burials which contained rich offerings.