Aigai (Vergina)

Aigai was the royal metropolis of the Macedonians and the core of their ancient kingdom, from where the Temenid dynasty—the family of Philip II and Alexander the Great—ruled for over three centuries. It was the cradle of a mythical, religious, political, and artistic civilization that spread across the known world.

It was here, at the site of present-day Vergina in the municipality of Veria, that Philip II was assassinated by Pausanias in the summer of 336 BC, on the day he intended to celebrate his daughter’s wedding and demonstrate his omnipotence. Shortly afterward, his son Alexander was proclaimed king, and two years later, in the spring of 334 BC, he began his campaign in Asia.

Aigai was destroyed in 168 BC by the Romans, and the name of the first capital of the Macedonians was lost in oblivion. However, in 1977, the excavation conducted by Manolis Andronikos brought its history back to light, and Macedonia began to rewrite its past.

Today, the Polycentric Museum of Aigai includes:

1. the Palace
2. the ancient Theater
3. the Royal Tombs of Aigai
4. the Central Museum Building
5. the necropolis and the burial cluster of the Temenids
6. the Post-Byzantine Church of Saint Demetrios in Palatitsia.