The museum
Since 1987 the archaeological site
at Amphipolis has had its own museum, displaying the wealth of material from
the excavations begun by archaeologist Dimitris Lazaridis. Curator of Eastern
Macedonian Antiquities and General Inspector of Antiquities, he carried out the
bulk of excavations at Amphipolis from 1956 to 1984. Construction work on the
museum building began in 1976 and was completed in 1987, to plans by architect
A. Bakirtzis.
The exhibition presents the history of the ancient city and its environs both
by subject matter and chronologically. Finds from the mouth of the Strymon River
testify to human presence and activity from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron
Age (5000 BC-750 BC). Attic and Corinthian vases from archaic tombs testify to
the gradual penetration of Greek populations into Thrace, and the founding of Greek
cities by the mouth of the Strymon as early as the mid-7th century BC; numerous
other finds show public and private life in Amphipolis during Classical and
Hellenistic times, and the town’s prominence under Roman rule. The Early
Christian and Byzantine exhibits are similarly representative, though they
point to the gradual decline of Amphipolis in that period. The museum rooms also
offer interesting information on the area’s modern history, as well as
chronicling archaeological research conducted there.
Glossary (1)
Paleo-Christian (early Christian) era:
in Byzantine history, the period that typically starts in 330 AD, when Constantine the Great transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his newly-founded city of Constantinople, and ends with the death of Justinian in 565.
Information Texts (1)
The city:
Amphipolis is located at the foot of Mount Pangaion,
near the banks of the River Strymon. Archaeological evidence indicates strong
human presence and activity in the area from as early as the Middle Neolithic. Built
like an amphitheatre at a strategic location, Amphipolis was an Athenian colony
founded in 437/6 on the site of Ennea Hodoi (Nine Ways), and the earlier city of
Hedonia. Public and private life in the city blossomed during the Classical and
Hellenistic periods, while the fact that the Via Egnatia passed through
Amphipolis was a key factor in maintaining its prosperity through Roman and
early Christian times. At least until 692 it was the seat of a bishop, and grew
into a major centre of ecclesiastical activity in the area. Excavations within
the city limits have revealed four basilicas decorated with sumptuous mosaics
and marble revetments, an episcopical palace and a centrally
planned
church, all dating
to this period. At this time the city was fortified
by a 7.5 km long wall, and a second enclosure 2.2 km in length, bounding the
citadel.
The city was probably destroyed in
the 8th or 9th century, for it was then that the
inhabitants relocated to the major fortified harbour town of Chrysoupoli, at the mouth of the River
Strymon . A small settlement named Marmarion grew up on the ruins of
Amphipolis, becoming a staging post for travellers crossing the Strymon at the
nearby ford of Poros Marmariou. In the 13th-14th century two towers owned by
the monasteries of Mount Athos were founded on either side of the river. The better
preserved of the two, built of spolia on a hill to north of the modern village,
stood three storeys high and was surrounded by a defensive wall. According to an
inscription, the tower was founded in 1367 by two generals named Alexius and
Ioannis, blood brothers and founders of Pantocrator Monastery on Mount Athos,
which owns the monument. On the opposite bank of Strymon lie the remains of the
second tower, which must have been at least two floors high. Although the towers
were primarily used as warehouses for storing produce grown on the local estates
and monasteries, their presence also served to control the passage to the
hinterland. Chrysoupoli was abandoned in the 16th century, whereas
Marmaris survived for a further two hundred years, only to be replaced by
Neohorio.
Bibliography (1)
1. Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού | Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Αμφιπόλεως, http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/1/gh151.jsp?obj_id=3250
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