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New discoveries point to more ‘untold secrets’ at Ancient Philippi site

A number of surprising discoveries at the Archaeological Site of Philippi in northwestern Greece are challenging what we knew about this important UNESCO world heritage site and its incredible history.

Excavations carried out at the site so far had indicated that there had been no residential development in the ancient city after the 6th century AD, but new ruins unearthed during digging for the site’s water supply and fire protection system confirm that life carried on for some time longer than initially believed.

Digging led the archaeologists of the Kavala Ephorate of Antiquities to a large public building with a statue built into its walls, a public bathhouse with evidence of earlier phases of operation from Roman and Early Christian times, as well as parts of streets, workshops and houses dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries AD. These traces of earlier residential activity clearly indicate that the city established by King Philip II of the Macedons in 356 BC was graced by buildings well after the 6th century AD. The ruins were also left intact by the crews digging for the new installations, thanks to the support of the site’s archaeologists and data from geophysical studies.

Unearthed near the city’s ancient theater, the big public building was found to have the upper torso of a small statue of a young man embedded in the wall on the northern side. The sculpture, approximately 60 centimeters in height and likely dating to Roman times, was incorporated into the masonry of a later building – a common practice in ancient and subsequent periods, as builders would use whatever materials were at hand, including statuary.

A section of another building that came to light southwest of the palaestra suggests public baths, as archaeologists uncovered part of a room with a semicircular design and floors with marble revetments. Its Early Christian phase, built over a Roman road, illustrates the city’s urban layout during the 6th century AD, the period when Philippi was believed to have been abandoned.

“The finds are modest, ruins of buildings with mudbrick walls made of stones and bricks. However, their value is immense, as they enrich the scientific discussion concerning life in Philippi after the end of antiquity,” Stavroula Dadaki, head of the Kavala Ephorate of Antiquities, tells Kathimerini.

Until recently, she explains, “the prevailing view was that the city was abandoned at the end of the 6th century AD, following invasions, primarily by Slavs and Avars, and earthquakes that leveled the Early Christian buildings. These findings, therefore, change the picture that had been accepted until now.”

Renowned for the state of preservation of its Early Christian ruins, which stand at a good height and include iconic monuments, the Archaeological Site of Philippi is among the most important in northern Greece and holds special universal significance because the Apostle Paul visited and preached there.

“The fact that it has not been inhabited in modern times greatly supports both our ongoing research and our ability to showcase the site,” says Dadaki. “Visitors walking through the site can get a feel for the ancient city, which was founded in 356 BC, flourished during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and later survived as a small settlement during Byzantine times, situated on the edges of the Via Egnatia. The recent discoveries reveal that the site still holds many untold secrets.”

Source: ekathimerini.com