Ancient Pella

Πέλλα

Greece · Central Macedonia, Pella

Ancient cityExcavation ongoing
Approximate period600 BCE — 400 CEClassical and Hellenistic See on the map ↓

In brief

Excavations of the Macedonian capital have uncovered houses with large courtyards, a palace and commercial buildings. Current research examines the city's houses and the lives of its inhabitants during the Classical and Hellenistic periods.

What was found?

  • 1Lion hunt mosaic of the House of Dionysos

    The pavement, dating to the late 4th century BC, depicts a lion hunt. It is an important example of figural decoration used in elite residences.

  • 2Hellenistic agora

    The colonnaded galleries around the central courtyard housed shops, workshops, administrative rooms, and the city archive. It shows that trade and civic administration were combined within the same building complex.

  • 3Remains of palace buildings

    Various sections of the palace were uncovered on the hill north of the city. Architectural pieces from the palace, such as a Doric capital, help explain the arrangement of the buildings.

  • 4Section of the city wall

    A section of the defensive wall was found south of the city, near Fakos. It provides physical evidence of the settlement's defensive arrangements.

  • 5Painted residential wall

    The wall, dating to the early 3rd century BC, bears painted decoration that reproduces architectural details. It documents the visual language used in domestic interiors.

What does it point to?

Pella's agora shows that production, trade, and recordkeeping were carried out as interconnected activities. The mosaics and painted walls reveal the labor and artistic skill devoted to the city's elite residences.

What did it teach us?

  1. Showed that the Hellenistic agora had administrative and archival functions alongside trade.
  2. Enabled an understanding of Macedonian urban life through the joint study of palace buildings and residences.
  3. Documented the use of both mosaics and wall paintings in domestic decoration.

Images

Place of the Dionysos Mosaic in the House of Dionysos, built in 325-300 BC, Ancient Pella
Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Aerial photograph of the complexes in the area of the sanctuary of Darron, Archaeological
Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Pella, archeological site 2
Vassiliki Feidopoulou · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Ancient Macedonian
First modern dig
1914
Team / historical
Pella Eski Eserler Dairesi ve Michigan Üniversitesi; Lisa Nevett ve David Stone
Coordinates
40.7547°, 22.5211°

Sources

  1. palaceofpella.gr
  2. en.wikipedia.org
  3. sites.lsa.umich.edu
  4. lsa.umich.edu
  5. Pella Eski Eserler Müdürlüğü — Arkeoloji Müzesi

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