World Heritage Identification Number: 780
World Heritage since: 1996
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇬🇷 Greece
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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Archaeological Site of Aigai (Vergina): The First Capital of Ancient Macedonia
The Archaeological Site of Aigai, now known as Vergina, is a significant archaeological location situated in northern Greece. This site holds immense historical importance as it was once the first capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, a region that spanned much of northwestern Greece and parts of southeastern Europe during classical antiquity.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The city of Aigai, the ancient first capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, was discovered in the 19th century near Vergina, in northern Greece. The most important remains are the monumental palace, lavishly decorated with mosaics and painted stuccoes, and the burial ground with more than 300 tumuli, some of which date from the 11th century B.C. One of the royal tombs in the Great Tumulus is identified as that of Philip II, who conquered all the Greek cities, paving the way for his son Alexander and the expansion of the Hellenistic world.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated property on the basis of cultural criteria (i) and (iii) considering that the site is of outstanding universal value representing an 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. This is vividly demonstrated in particular by the remarkable series of royal tombs and their rich contents. The Committee decided to add to the proposed criteria cultural criterion (i), since the paintings found at Vergina are of extraordinarily high quality and historical importance.
Encyclopedia Record: Aegae (Macedonia)
Aegae or Aigai was the original capital of Macedon, the ancient kingdom of the Makedones in Emathia in northern Greece. The site is located on the foothills of the Pierian Mountains, between the modern towns of Vergina and Palatitsia, and overlooks the Central Macedonian Plain. The city was abandoned in the 3rd century and was rediscovered in the 19th.Additional Site Details
Area: 1,420.81 hectares
(iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
Coordinates: 40.47139 , 22.31833
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© Македонец, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
