Thousands flock to see the Palace of Aigai, the largest surviving classical Greek building, after 16-year reconstruction completed
For 2,170 years it had lain in ruins: a palace that symbolised the golden age of antiquity, three times bigger than the Parthenon, unprecedented in architectural ambition, unparalleled in beauty.
It is here, in 336 B. C. , that the king of ancient Macedonia, Philip II, was assassinated; and here, in the great peristyle (or colonnaded courtyard) around which his banqueting halls were clustered, his 20-year-old son, Alexander the Great, would be proclaimed king, a moment that would replace the course of history.
This week, for the first time since it was destroyed by Roman invaders just two hundred years later, the Aigai Palace, the largest surviving building from classical Greek times, was restored to its former glory, and thousands of people visited the monument reopened after the final touch. of his 16-year reconstruction.
For Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, who inaugurated the site near the port city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece, its inauguration had significance far beyond Greece. “The importance of such monuments transcends local borders,” he told the assembled crowd. “And we, as custodians of this valuable cultural heritage, will have to protect it, [and] publicize it. “
For restorers who first began work in 2007 it was an achievement that at times had seemed an impossible dream.
“When we started, we were faced with tens of thousands of scattered architectural remains, a huge jigsaw puzzle of column bases and capitals, architraves, tile fragments and walls,” says Angeliki Kottaridi, the archaeologist who oversaw the €20. 3 million project. (£17. 5 million) EU-funded project. Imagining what it would have been like, and then assembling and revising it, is a natural joy. “
The supreme glory of what was once Macedonia’s royal city, the palace, is not only a style construction but also “an architectural manifesto of the ideal state,” according to Kottaridi. No other construction, he says, comes close in inventiveness, brilliance, or architectural harmony. .
As part of a vast building program ordered by Philip, Aigai was transformed into a sprawling city and the palace was part of a complex that would include a theater, shrine, library, and a vast necropolis of over 500 burial mounds. Philip’s tomb is believed to be one of them.
“Less than 10 percent [of the city] has been excavated,” enthuses Kottaridi, who has been working at the UNESCO World Heritage site for nearly half a century. “It’s a gift that keeps on giving. “
The palace is one of more than 800 monuments that are recently being renovated in Greece thanks to monetary aid from the EU. As the centre-right government invests heavily in the “cultural economy”, Mitsotakis is under pressure over the role he would play as a “catalyst” of expansion in the region, while strengthening Greece’s identity with the former Macedonia. Local officials agree.
“They call it the Parthenon of Macedonia,” said Konstantinos Vorgiazides, mayor of Veria, the city closest to the archaeological treasures. “Each year the site attracts around 250,000 tourists, but now we expect a considerable increase. We are very proud. I was there for the opening. It is a lovely place. “
For Greek and foreign historians, the new palace does even more: deviate from the classical era of Pericles in Athens to the Macedonian dynasty of northern Greece and the achievements of Philip and Alexander.
“We concentrate on history,” said British historian and broadcaster Michael Wood, speaking from London. “And it focuses our attention on the incredible events that began there. This small, militaristic, provincial kingdom would be the catalyst for the expansion of Greek culture and Aigai the launching pad for the historical adventure of Alexander the Great, his expedition to Asia and the conquest of part of the known world.
While the Parthenon represents the pinnacle of the Classical Age, the actual city evokes the beginning of the Hellenistic era, which lasted many years and felt as far away as Afghanistan and India.
But there’s something else, said Wood, who followed the young warrior king’s epic adventure through deserts, mountain ranges, rivers and plains, from Greece to the northwestern border of Pakistan and India in the 1990s.
The reconstruction of the palace has shown once again that, like the Parthenon marbles, the wonderful ancient monuments have an “integrity” that is most productive if they come together in their grassy landscape. “The modern Greek state, so to speak, is proving to be a preeminent custodian of its ancient Greek culture,” Wood said. “The palace also draws attention to the fact that all the sculptures from the fifth century are located in the same place, in Athens. “