The road was very quiet and we slept very well. The morning was dull and the view even more hazy than yesterday – we couldn't see the northern end of the lake at all and could only just make out the hills opposite our pitch despite the fact that they were much closer.
We drove round the northern end of the lake, through very fertile land, to Arnissa, a distance of about 15km, passing two cars, three tractors and a pedestrian – it was a very quiet road! We plotted a route than would take us on more minor roads down to Naoussa (famous for its wines). Initially however, we took a fairly major road to Edessa, stopping briefly at a wetland nature park and buying some wonderful cherries. I love cherries and there is an abundance of them in Greece at this time of the year. This road was lined with stalls selling cherries, apricots and peaches. We came off the main road on the outskirts of Edessa and started climbing up into the hills. The views were still hazy but would have been wonderful on a clear day and we passed orchard after orchard of fruit trees, especially cherries. Picking was in full swing and I was greeted by some of them when I stopped to take a photograph. Unfortunately, they didn't present me will kilos of fruit but we did have the cherries that we bought earlier. We were pressing on to Vergina so, against my better judgement, we didn't stop at any of the wineries in Naoussa.
Vergina, ancient Aigai, was the capital of Macedonia until the late 5th century BC, some time before the reign of Phillip II (Alexander the Great's father). Even after the capital was moved to Pella, the city was still used as the necropolis (burial place) for the people and the royal family of the new Macedonian capital. The necropolis is huge with vast expanses of land filled with small bumps indicating the burial places. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos spent decades working on the site and was convinced that a hill, 100m in diameter and 12m high, was a very large tumulus that covered important tombs. Andronikos was ignored by much of the establishment who thought that Aigai lay under Edessa, some 40km north east of Vergina, but he proved that he was correct when he uncovered four royal Macedonian chamber tombs. Andronikos had made the most important discovery since that of Mycenae and it revolutionised Greek archaeology. Three of the tombs are intact and the most important tomb, established as that of Philip II, had not been plundered. The frieze above the stone doorway of the tomb depicts Philip and Alexander in a hunting scene and inside there were great treasures. Philip was a great leader of men and a nation builder, uniting Greece under his leadership and the luxury of the tomb and grave goods reflects his station. Philip's body was burned on a funeral pyre together with his dogs and horses and, in line with tradition, one of his wives walked willing into the fire to join her husband in the afterlife. Her bones, wrapped in a gold and purple cloth, inside a gold 'larnax' (box) were placed in the antechamber of the tomb together with rich grave goods. Phillip's bones were placed in a large gold larnax embossed with the Macedonian star and this was placed inside a marble sarcophagus. His grave goods were of unprecedented richness.
When we first visited Vergina, it was a small village with no tourist facilities and the tumulus had been flattened but we could glimpse the openings to the tombs in amongst the huge excavations. We had to travel to Thessaloniki to see the finds in the archaeological museum. Now a museum has been constructed around the tombs and the tumulus reconstructed around it. The village is much bigger and has many hotels, rooms and tavernas and there are many coaches in the large car park. Inside the tumulus it is very dark with only the exhibits brightly lit – very disconcerting when one walks in. However, the lighting is very effective, especially for the many gold finds. It is a shame that photography is not allowed and I am glad that I have some slides taken in the Thessalonika museum all those years ago when photography was allowed. A guard there even pointed out to me the tiny, beautifully crafted golden sphinx on the hilt of Philip's sword, something that is no longer visible due to the way that the sword has been displayed.
We wanted to see the palace above the royal tombs but discovered when we got there that the site is closed until the end of the year. We looked through a fence at the scant remains of the theatre at which, in 336BC at the age of 46, Philip II was murdered whilst attending his daughter's wedding. We then visited the only one of the many Macedonian chamber tombs that is open to the public. It is thought to be the tomb of Philip's mother Eurydike and has an impressive frontage with a throne and sarcophagus visible inside.
We stopped for a very late (3pm) lunch overlooking the site of Aigai and then drove on to the nearest campsite on the coast at Methoni. On the way down the main road close to the coast, we passed a café that I remember from all of those years ago when we first visited Vergina – the Café DC3. It is a case on 'once seen, never forgotten' as it has an aeroplane (a DC3) on its roof. When we saw it last time, one was able to walk up steps into the aircraft from the café's flat roof and have your coffee there. Sadly it has now closed, so anyone wanting to buy a café and an aircraft could get a bargain!
At the campsite during the evening we were treated to a spectacular thunderstorm. It started with distant rumbles and faint flashes in the sky and gradually built until the area north of us was lit by almost continuous flashes. Then it hit us with the thunderclaps shaking the van and the rain, turning to hail, pounding on the roof and bouncing off the windscreen. We thought of all of those orchards and hoped that the hail had not destroyed the fruit. The storm soon passed but we were woken by another violent storm at 01:30, this one coming on us very quickly with more heavy rain.
Photos: Cherry pickers; Densely packed cherries on the tree; The Vergina tumulus; One of the Macedonian chamber tombs, probably that of Philip II's mother Eurydike; The 'Café DC3'.
We drove round the northern end of the lake, through very fertile land, to Arnissa, a distance of about 15km, passing two cars, three tractors and a pedestrian – it was a very quiet road! We plotted a route than would take us on more minor roads down to Naoussa (famous for its wines). Initially however, we took a fairly major road to Edessa, stopping briefly at a wetland nature park and buying some wonderful cherries. I love cherries and there is an abundance of them in Greece at this time of the year. This road was lined with stalls selling cherries, apricots and peaches. We came off the main road on the outskirts of Edessa and started climbing up into the hills. The views were still hazy but would have been wonderful on a clear day and we passed orchard after orchard of fruit trees, especially cherries. Picking was in full swing and I was greeted by some of them when I stopped to take a photograph. Unfortunately, they didn't present me will kilos of fruit but we did have the cherries that we bought earlier. We were pressing on to Vergina so, against my better judgement, we didn't stop at any of the wineries in Naoussa.
Vergina, ancient Aigai, was the capital of Macedonia until the late 5th century BC, some time before the reign of Phillip II (Alexander the Great's father). Even after the capital was moved to Pella, the city was still used as the necropolis (burial place) for the people and the royal family of the new Macedonian capital. The necropolis is huge with vast expanses of land filled with small bumps indicating the burial places. The Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos spent decades working on the site and was convinced that a hill, 100m in diameter and 12m high, was a very large tumulus that covered important tombs. Andronikos was ignored by much of the establishment who thought that Aigai lay under Edessa, some 40km north east of Vergina, but he proved that he was correct when he uncovered four royal Macedonian chamber tombs. Andronikos had made the most important discovery since that of Mycenae and it revolutionised Greek archaeology. Three of the tombs are intact and the most important tomb, established as that of Philip II, had not been plundered. The frieze above the stone doorway of the tomb depicts Philip and Alexander in a hunting scene and inside there were great treasures. Philip was a great leader of men and a nation builder, uniting Greece under his leadership and the luxury of the tomb and grave goods reflects his station. Philip's body was burned on a funeral pyre together with his dogs and horses and, in line with tradition, one of his wives walked willing into the fire to join her husband in the afterlife. Her bones, wrapped in a gold and purple cloth, inside a gold 'larnax' (box) were placed in the antechamber of the tomb together with rich grave goods. Phillip's bones were placed in a large gold larnax embossed with the Macedonian star and this was placed inside a marble sarcophagus. His grave goods were of unprecedented richness.
When we first visited Vergina, it was a small village with no tourist facilities and the tumulus had been flattened but we could glimpse the openings to the tombs in amongst the huge excavations. We had to travel to Thessaloniki to see the finds in the archaeological museum. Now a museum has been constructed around the tombs and the tumulus reconstructed around it. The village is much bigger and has many hotels, rooms and tavernas and there are many coaches in the large car park. Inside the tumulus it is very dark with only the exhibits brightly lit – very disconcerting when one walks in. However, the lighting is very effective, especially for the many gold finds. It is a shame that photography is not allowed and I am glad that I have some slides taken in the Thessalonika museum all those years ago when photography was allowed. A guard there even pointed out to me the tiny, beautifully crafted golden sphinx on the hilt of Philip's sword, something that is no longer visible due to the way that the sword has been displayed.
We wanted to see the palace above the royal tombs but discovered when we got there that the site is closed until the end of the year. We looked through a fence at the scant remains of the theatre at which, in 336BC at the age of 46, Philip II was murdered whilst attending his daughter's wedding. We then visited the only one of the many Macedonian chamber tombs that is open to the public. It is thought to be the tomb of Philip's mother Eurydike and has an impressive frontage with a throne and sarcophagus visible inside.
We stopped for a very late (3pm) lunch overlooking the site of Aigai and then drove on to the nearest campsite on the coast at Methoni. On the way down the main road close to the coast, we passed a café that I remember from all of those years ago when we first visited Vergina – the Café DC3. It is a case on 'once seen, never forgotten' as it has an aeroplane (a DC3) on its roof. When we saw it last time, one was able to walk up steps into the aircraft from the café's flat roof and have your coffee there. Sadly it has now closed, so anyone wanting to buy a café and an aircraft could get a bargain!
At the campsite during the evening we were treated to a spectacular thunderstorm. It started with distant rumbles and faint flashes in the sky and gradually built until the area north of us was lit by almost continuous flashes. Then it hit us with the thunderclaps shaking the van and the rain, turning to hail, pounding on the roof and bouncing off the windscreen. We thought of all of those orchards and hoped that the hail had not destroyed the fruit. The storm soon passed but we were woken by another violent storm at 01:30, this one coming on us very quickly with more heavy rain.
Photos: Cherry pickers; Densely packed cherries on the tree; The Vergina tumulus; One of the Macedonian chamber tombs, probably that of Philip II's mother Eurydike; The 'Café DC3'.
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