7 April 2025 – Winter Wonderland & Vergina

Miles driven today = 107

Total Miles to date = 3,026

It was a chilly 4 degrees when we got up in Kastraki this morning, but there was no sign of the forecast snow.  However, as soon as we hit the road northwards we could see that there was obviously a fresh covering on the hills around us and very quickly we started seeing vehicles coming towards us which had obviously got a good coating overnight.

Gradually we gained altitude and as we did so a light dusting became a significant covering on the trees and fields.  We stopped a couple of times for photos and some of the locals were doing the same, so this clearly isn’t a common occurrence in April round these parts.

The roads were perfectly clear but with mountains surrounding us for the majority of today’s journey the fresh snow glistening in the sunshine was an unexpected and very attractive bonus.

We made a planned stop at a bridge over the Venetikos River.

The river flows through a narrow gorge which is part of a UNESCO Geopark.

The rocks here are among the oldest in Greece having been laid down a billion years ago.

You can still see the foundations of the previous stone bridge which, according to legend, were placed on the hoof prints of Alexander The Great’s horse.

Then, after a short distance, we picked up the E90 Motorway which skirts to the north of Mount Olympus.  It passes through a series of tunnels of up to 2.2km in length before descending to the Central Macedonian plain, at which point we turned off and made our way to the small town of Vergina.

Modern day Vergina is built on the site of Aegae, the original Macedonian Royal Capital and burial place of many of the Macedonian Kings.  The main attraction here is the Museum of the Royal Tombs, which is housed under a recreated tumulus, representative of the earth mound which covered the site before it was fully excavated in 1977.

Upon entering the dimly lit interior the first things we see are an assortment of finds from around the tumulus including these grave goods which are dated from between the 10^th to 7^th Centuries BC.

Then we see the first of four significant tombs which were unearthed.  The so-called “Doric Tomb” because of the style of the pillars at the entrance.

This tomb was looted in antiquity and these ivory pieces were among the few things which were left behind.

The “Persephone Tomb” was also raided but it still had this incredible mural in place of the rape of Persephone by Hades.  This is a reproduction but the original is the only complete example of an ancient Greek painting known to have survived.

This is the entrance to the third tomb which incredibly avoided the attention of grave robbers and was fully intact when excavated.  It is the final resting place of none other than Philip II, father of Alexander The Great, who was assassinated in 336 BC. 

These are the weapons found in Philip’s tomb including a shield, armour and javelin heads.  They were considered status symbols following the great man to his grave.

The King would have been cremated in a huge and elaborate funeral pyre with lots of objects such as weapons and garments and even sacrificed dogs and horses thrown on top.  These are the unburnt remains of the funeral pyre.  The King’s bones would then have been collected, washed in wine and sealed in a gold chest before being placed in the tomb.

These are vessels which would have been used to wash and anoint the King’s body before being placed in the tomb with his remains.

An antechamber contained the remains of a young woman, thought to have been Philip’s wife, the Thracian Princess, Meda.  Her bones were wrapped in this purple and gold cloth.

They were then placed in this gold “Larnax”.

Also enclosed was this incredibly intricate “Diadem”, which is basically a headband or crown.

The fourth and final tomb was also intact.  It contained the remains of a young male aged between 13 and 16 and is thought to be Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great, who was murdered together with his mother in 310 BC.

The young man’s bones were contained in this silver Ossuary-hydria decked in a gold oak wreath.

Ivory figures which would have decorated a couch in the grave.

An amazing collection of silverware which was recovered from the tomb.

Our entrance fee to visit the Royal Tombs also allowed us to have a look around the nearby Polycentric Museum of Aegae.  Lots of artefacts here from other sites around the area including a huge collection of ancient coinage.

Also plenty of weaponry, statues and the like but I guess we are getting very blasé about this sort of thing now because they didn’t really capture our attention for long.   

So we took ourselves for an uphill walk along a track which led us a little way out of town.

At the end of the track we found the Palace of Aegae, which, together with the surrounding Sanctuaries and Theatre were built by Philip II as the seat of power for his Kingdom.  It also witnessed the crowning of Alexander the Great as King after his father’s death.

According to the Information boards the Palace was the largest known building of the Classical Greek era.  

Unfortunately the Palace was destroyed after the Romans moved in during the 2^nd Century BC and most of the stone was used for other buildings, leaving just the foundations and a few pillars, which are currently being restored.

Very close by is the Theatre which where Philip II was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.

We are spending tonight in the main visitors' car park at Vergina looking uphill towards the site of the Royal Palace.  There is a motorhome parking area nearby where they only charge €5 a night for a bit of security but we feel safe enough here and the view is better.

In fact since we have been here 4 other vans have turned up.  Incredibly 3 of them are British, although we haven’t had a chance to speak to any of their inhabitants.  In fact now that the tour buses have all gone the only other occupants of the car park are these friendly canines, who Lisa might have accidentally allowed to have a couple of slices of ham earlier.  It was out of date anyway, she tells me.

8 April 2025 - Classy Camping