Veroia is located at the east foot of Mount Vermion, at an altitude of 130 meters. It shows signs of continuous habitation from antiquity. The city flourished in Hellenistic times, especially under the Antigonid dynasty, successors of Alexander the Great who hailed from Veroia, and also in the Roman period, when it became seat of the Macedonian Koinon (Confederation).  Christianity was preached relatively early on, and there is formal evidence of a Bishop being present from as early as 325. In early Christian times Veroia grew into an important administrative, military and religious centre. Considerable change to urban planning was wrought by the addition of imposing religious and secular buildings, which transformed the face of the city.

From the 7th century on, especially in Middle Byzantine times, the city shrank and the population relocated to the highest areas. It was in this period that Veroia was attacked by the Saracens and the Bulgarians, reconquered by the Byzantines and subsequently taken by the Serbian Stephen Dušan (1345/6-1350). John Cantacuzenus liberated the city in 1350, ushering in a period of peace until the final conquest of the city by the Ottomans in 1433.

From Hellenistic times onwards the city and its residents were protected against raids by strong defensive walls, which were repeatedly modified over the course of the city’s long history. The walls delimited urban space; excavations within them have brought to light a large number of secular buildings, often decorated with stunning, opulent mosaics.

Furthermore, five early Christian basilicas have been excavated within city limits, three of which lie beneath the foundations of the post-Byzantine churches of Panagouda, Agia Anna and Agios Patapios. Particularly in the area of Agios Patapios, a large church complex has been unearthed. This comprises a 5th century basilica, an imposing hall decorated with 4^th century mosaics and a courtyard baptistry from the same period. Once ruined in the following century, an oblong two-part arched structure identified as the Bishop’s palace was built on top.

The largest Early Christian church in Veroia was unearthed a short distance from the dig at Agios Patapios, at the site occupied by the later church of Agios Ioannis. This is a 6th century basilica with a transept and a narthex , probably founded on top of an early 5th century basilica that had in turn been built on the ruins of a Late Roman bath. The 6th century basilica survived down the centuries with various additions and alterations, and in the Late Byzantine period was used as a burial site.

Apart from religious and secular buildings, excavations have brought to light sections of the city’s Early Christian and Byzantine cemeteries, which grew up outside the city walls and contain a variety of graves (pit burials, as well as tile-covered and cist graves).

In the Middle and Late Byzantine period a large number of churches were built in Veroia, the most important being the Palaia Mitropolis (Old Cathedral). Of the forty-eight surviving Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches, fifteen or so exhibit construction phases or are decorated with compositions dating back to Byzantine times, revealing a blossoming of art in the Late Byzantine period.

Finally, additional workshop installations have come to light within the city walls. These are of particular interest with regard to the residents’ activities, such as the ceramic workshop in the southwest part of town, which seems to have been in operation from early Christian times, above all in the Late Byzantine period.