Veria-Vergina

Driving up the motorway passing signs for possible Bears. We headed for the city center car park of Veria. Paid our €1 to park and told we could stop overnight. By this time it was 35C. We headed into the city and to the Old Metropolitan Church of Veria (11th c.) with its painted walls. Then off to find the Bema (Podium) of Paul the Apostle. Saint Paul or the Saint of the Nations, as he is called nowadays, came to Veria in 50-51 after Christ. He preached the Christian faith in Veria twice, at the point, where today stands a Podium dedicated to his sainthood.

In the first period of Christianity, the place where nowadays stands the Podium, was located outside the walls of the town. This is the touchstone of the ecclesiastic history of Veria.

We decided not to stop overnight so headed for Vergina is best known as the site of ancient Aigai (Αἰγαί, Aigaí, Latinized: Aegae), the first capital of Macedon. In 336 BC Philip II was assassinated in Aigai's theatre and his son, Alexander the Great, was proclaimed king. In 1977, the burial sites of several kings of Macedon were uncovered, including the tomb of Philip II which had not been disturbed or looted, unlike so many of the other tombs there. The ancient town was also the site of an extensive royal palace. The archaeological museum of Vergina was built to house all the artifacts found at the site and is one of the most important museums in Greece. This is a fantastic museum one of the best we have seen.