The capital of Macedonia was the city of Pella. Greek Pictures - Thessaloniki, West Macedonia, Meteora

The famous ruler Alexander was born in this city. In the ancient city of Pella, every stone breathes a thousand-year history.

Alexander created a majestic empire that united peoples and countries. Much from those times has survived to this day. Everything here reminds of the creation of a civilization, which even today keeps numerous secrets and mysteries.

Who decided to create from small town historians do not know the royal capital, but even 2400 years ago, King Archelaus built here luxurious palace, known as one of the best examples of ancient architecture and fine arts. The first mention of the city dates back to the time of the campaign of King Darius and the famous battle of the Spartans.

The growth of the influence of the Macedonian kings expanded and Pella. From small town with a good location, where there was an opportunity to perfectly defend against enemies, he rose to the title of the capital of the formidable Macedonian kingdom.

City of the king of kings

In the IV century BC, the city became one of the most major cities a young and fast-growing kingdom. Here the rulers of Macedonia were born and died, which began to unite most of the Greek lands. A famous commander, the creator of the largest Hellenistic state, Alexander the Great or Alexander III the Great, was born in the city.

Alexander's successors made Pell one of the largest and most resplendent cities in the new empire. Then the city experienced periods of prosperity and decline, but after a major earthquake at the beginning of the 1st century BC, it was almost completely destroyed.

Recovering the memory of Pella

Only at the beginning of the 20s of this century, archaeologists were able to begin excavations and search for an answer to the question of whether the capital of Macedonia was in fact in Pella. The excavations delighted the scientists. A huge number of well-preserved artifacts from ancient Greek times have been found here.
The Pella Archaeological Museum is a treasure trove of modern knowledge about the times of the kings, the exploits of heroes and the battles for freedom.

Today, travelers can enjoy spending hours interacting with artifacts from an ancient era. Scientists carefully studied everything that could be raised from the ruins and found the remains of a magnificent city.

It had its own palace, located on 6 hectares. In the center of the city there was a large agora square for meetings and celebrations, and trade. The wide streets were carefully planned. The ancient inhabitants of Pell lived in 500 houses with one-story or two-story structures. The houses are richly decorated with mosaics, sculptures and paintings. The unique mosaics in the Pell houses have survived. It is considered the summit achievement of ancient Greek culture because of the richness and brightness of the images, the realism of the images.

Ancient Pella is a reflection of the Greek civilization that laid the foundation for modern civilization. Today's Pella is a spectacular open-air museum town rich in antiquities.

We return in the direction of Veria to the crossing through Alyakmon, however, we do not cross the river, but turn left and follow this road along the river to the monastery. Here, on the slope of the high bank of Aliakmon, at the foot of Mount Pieria, is located monastery of John the Baptist .

The history of the monastery is lost in the mists of time. It is known that here in the IX century. Saint Clement of Ohridskiy, one of the "developers" of the Cyrillic alphabet, took monastic vows. In the monastery, according to its own will, the head of the saint is kept as a relic.

By the XIV century. this region is falling into disrepair. At this time, the great enlightener Saint Gregory Palamas with his disciples settled in the caves near the monastery. In the same years, he passed through the Monastery of the Forerunner and St. Athanasius, who later founded the Great Meteor Monastery.

In the XVI century. Saint Dionysius, abbot of the Philothean monastery, came to these places from Mount Athos, and founded Kinovia, a hostel monastery. Later, not wishing to yield to the demands of the inhabitants of Veria, who insisted that the saint become their bishop, Dionysius withdrew and subsequently founded the monastery of the Holy Trinity on Olympus, which today bears his name. Saint Nicephorus, founder of the monastery in Zaword (prefecture of Grevena), was a friend and companion of Saint Dionysius.

In total, the memory of twelve saints, one way or another connected with the monastery, is honored here. All of them visited the monastery, lived for a long or short time under the canopy of the monastery of John the Baptist.

After the uprising in Nausa in 1822, the Turks burned all the monasteries in the area, including this one. However, the monks were able to hide the relics in time. When they returned, they found only scorched lands. It was possible to restore everything only by 1835. Today, the monastery looks like it acquired at that time.

In front of the entrance to the monastery there is a gazebo with a source. Having entered the gate inside the fortified walls of the monastery, we will find ourselves in the first monastery courtyard. Peacocks roam here, and in the monastery shop you can buy whatever you like. Moreover, during our arrival, the seller was not there, and it was possible to take the selected things, and throw the money for them into a box adapted for this. I purchased a pilgrim's guide and a CD of church chants here.

Further behind another gate is the second courtyard. There is a refectory and a synodal hall here. On the left is the entrance to the cave. Farther away is the Catholicon, the main temple. This is a three-aisled basilica dedicated to the Beheading of the Honorable Head of John the Baptist. To the left of the church is the source; the gazebo built above it serves today as a bell tower. A wing with cells is located opposite the temple. The newly built terrace near the church offers a wonderful view of the Alyakmon River and the mountains.

If you go further along the low corridor, you can get to the western wing of the monastery. We were not there and I do not know if this passage is accessible to visitors to the monastery. There are monastic cells and a building where a seminary functioned for ten years until 1915. At the end is the old monastery catholicon, built in 1622.

Outside the monastery, in the west, there is a waterfall, and behind it are the caves in which the holy inhabitants of the monastery lived, including Gregory Palamas.

Story

For the first time, the name of Pella was sounded by Herodotus when describing the campaign of the Persian king Xerxes against Greece in 480 BC. e. ; Herodotus called Pella a city located in the Bottiya region, inhabited by the Botti tribe.

Stephen of Byzantium remarked in his geographical treatise: Pella was formerly called Bounomos or Bounomeia in Macedonia. During the reign of the Macedonian king Alexander I (- years BC), the lands of Macedonia rapidly expanded to the north and east due to the displacement and absorption of the Thracian and other tribes. Under the son of Alexander I, King Perdiccas II, Pella was already part of Macedonia, and the Botti tribe moved to Peninsula of Halkidiki... When the Thracian king Sitalk invaded Macedonia in the 2nd half of the 5th century. BC e. , the Macedonians took refuge in a few fortresses, making guerrilla attacks against the enemy. Perhaps it was then that Perdiccas II decided to make Pella, located in a sheltered place, practically in the center of Ematia, his capital.

It is not known who exactly and when moved the capital of Macedonia from the sacred Aegos to Pella, but at least Perdiccas' son, the Macedonian king Archelaus (- years BC), built a magnificent palace there, for the painting of which he invited the famous Greek artist Zeuxis. Euripides was buried here.

« The consul with all the army left Pidna, the next day he was at Pella and set up a camp a mile from the city, stood there for several days, examining the location of the city from all sides, and made sure that it was not in vain that the kings of Macedonia settled here: Pella is standing on a hill looking at winter sunset; around it are swamps, impenetrable neither in summer nor in winter - they are fed by river floods. The Fakos fortress rises like an island among the marshes in the place where they come closest to the city; it stands on a huge embankment capable of withstanding the weight of the walls and not suffering from the moisture of the swamps that encircle it. From a distance it seems that the fortress is connected to the wall of the city, although in fact they are separated by a moat with water, but connected by a bridge so that the enemy does not approach, and any prisoner imprisoned by the king could not escape except through the bridge, which is easier to guard everything. There, in the fortress, there was also the royal treasury ...»

After the Roman conquest of Macedonia in the II century. BC e. Pella for some time remained the center of one of the 4 administrative districts into which the Romans divided Macedonia, but then the center was moved to the more conveniently located Thessaloniki, and the former capital of the Macedonian kings was abandoned. Lucian in 180 called Pella an insignificant town with a small number of inhabitants.

The fortress among the swamps could not stand the test of peacetime. In the 1st century. BC e. an earthquake destroyed the city. Natural changes in the landscape also contributed to the oblivion of Pella. Once a port on the lake and having access to the Aegean Sea via the Ludiy River, Pella eventually turned out to be a land town.

Archeology

In our time, only ancient ruins near the town of Aii Apostoli (Greek. Άγιοι Απόστολοι ), but there was no certainty that this was the very city - the birthplace of Alexander the Great. In Agii Apostoli, located a kilometer from the ruins ancient city and 40 km north-west of Thessaloniki (Greek Thessaloniki or Thessaloniki Θεσσαλονίκη), changed his name to Pella.

Excavations in Greece at the supposed site of ancient Pella began in the city of and continued from the city of B, decorative tiles with Pell's inscriptions were discovered, which confirmed the correctness of the archaeologists' assumptions. During the excavations, a settlement of the Neolithic period (7th millennium BC), traces of a palace complex with an area of 6 hectares, a fortress were found. Only a stone foundation remained from the walls of the fortress, the walls themselves were lined with mud bricks, which over time turned into mud that covered the foundation.

The ancient city with an area of about 2 km² was located south of the palace. In the center there was a large square (agora), and the city itself was regularly planned by intersecting at right angles streets 9-10 m wide. The buildings (almost 500) were one- and two-story.

Mosaic

Lion hunting ("House of Dionysus", late 4th century BC)

On the floors of some buildings, well-preserved mosaics from the early Hellenistic period have been found.

Of particular interest are the Andron floor mosaics of the so-called. The Houses of Dionysus (Dionysus, The Lion Hunt), and The Houses of Helen's Abduction (The Deer Hunt and Helen's Abduction (preserved fragment)).

The mosaic depicting a scene of a deer hunt has an inscription: "γνῶσις ἐποίεσεν" ("Gnosis made") - the author's first autograph in the history of mosaics.

Deer hunting ("House of the Abduction of Helena", late 4th century BC)

This is a new level of mosaic art, which neither the masters of classical Greece knew and for a long time the masters of the Hellenistic era will not reach. Here, for the first time, realism appears: space and volume, color is freely used. In technology - the most careful selection of pebbles, not only in size, but also in shape; for better detailing, new materials are used - strips of clay and lead.

; Herodotus called Pella a city located in the Bottiya region, inhabited by the Botti tribe.

Stephen of Byzantium remarked in his geographical treatise: Pella was formerly called Bounomos or Bounomeia in Macedonia. During the reign of the Macedonian king Alexander I (- years BC), the lands of Macedonia rapidly expanded to the north and east due to the displacement and absorption of the Thracian and other tribes. Under the son of Alexander I, King Perdiccas II, Pella was already part of Macedonia, and the Botti tribe moved to the Peninsula of Halkidika. When the Thracian king Sitalk invaded Macedonia in the 2nd half of the 5th century. BC e. , the Macedonians took refuge in a few fortresses, making guerrilla attacks against the enemy. Perhaps it was then that Perdiccas II decided to make Pella, located in a sheltered place, practically in the center of Ematia, his capital.

« The consul with all the army left Pidna, the next day he was at Pella and set up a camp a mile from the city, stood there for several days, examining the location of the city from all sides, and made sure that it was not in vain that the kings of Macedonia settled here: Pella is standing on a hill looking at winter sunset; around it are swamps, impenetrable neither in summer nor in winter - they are fed by river floods. The Fakos fortress rises like an island among the marshes in the place where they come closest to the city; it stands on a huge embankment capable of withstanding the weight of the walls and not suffering from the moisture of the swamps that encircle it. From a distance it seems that the fortress is connected to the wall of the city, although in fact they are separated by a moat with water, but connected by a bridge so that the enemy does not approach, and any prisoner imprisoned by the king could not escape except through the bridge, which is easier to guard everything. There, in the fortress, there was also the royal treasury ...»

Archeology

In our time, only ancient ruins near the town of Aii Apostoli (Greek. Άγιοι Απόστολοι ), but there was no certainty that this was the very city - the birthplace of Alexander the Great. In the city of Agii Apostoli, located a kilometer from the ruins of the ancient city and 40 km north-west of Thessaloniki (Greek Thessaloniki or Thessaloniki Θεσσαλονίκη), he changed his name to Pella.

Mosaic

On the floors of some buildings, well-preserved mosaics from the early Hellenistic period have been found.

The mosaic depicting a scene of a deer hunt has an inscription: "γνῶσις ἐποίεσεν" ("Gnosis made") - the author's first autograph in the history of mosaics.

This is explained by the fact that the master Gnosis was guided in his art by contemporary realistic painting, while others, both early and late masters, oriented mosaics more towards red-figure vase painting with its predominantly two-color colors and flat graphics.

The Pella mosaics are the pinnacle of the art of pebble mosaics, and although pebbles will still be used in the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC e., it is outliving itself as a material for artwork.

Write a review on the article "Pella (city)"

Notes (edit)

Excerpt from Pella (city)

Shrugging his shoulders, Metivier walked up to Mademoiselle Bourienne, who had come running to shout from the next room.
- The prince is not quite well, - la bile et le transport au cerveau. Tranquillisez vous, je repasserai demain, [bile and congestion to the brain. Calm down, I'll come tomorrow,] - said Metivier and, putting his finger to his lips, hurried out.
Outside the door, footsteps in shoes and shouts were heard: “Spies, traitors, traitors everywhere! There is no moment of peace in your house! "
After the departure of Metivier, the old prince called his daughter to him and all the power of his anger fell upon her. It was her fault that a spy was allowed to see him. After all, he said, he told her to make a list, and those who were not on the list were not allowed. Why did they let this bastard go! She was the cause of everything. With her, he could not have a minute of peace, he could not die peacefully, he said.
- No, mother, disperse, disperse, you know, know! I can’t take it anymore, ”he said and left the room. And as if afraid that she might somehow not be able to console herself, he returned to her and, trying to assume a calm air, added: - And do not think that I would say this to you in my heart's moment, but I am calm, and I thought it over; and it will be - to disperse, look for a place for yourself! ... - But he could not resist and with that bitterness that can only be in a person who loves, he, apparently suffering himself, shook his fists and shouted to her:
- And at least some fool would take her in marriage! He slammed the door, called m lle Bourienne to his place, and fell silent in his study.
At two o'clock the selected six people gathered for dinner. Guests - the famous Count Rostopchin, Prince Lopukhin with his nephew, General Chatrov, an old comrade of the prince, and among the young ones Pierre and Boris Drubetskoy - were waiting for him in the drawing room.
Boris, who had recently arrived in Moscow on vacation, wished to be introduced to Prince Nikolai Andreevich and managed to win his favor to such an extent that the prince made an exception for him from all single young people whom he did not accept.
The prince's house was not what is called "light", but it was such a small circle, about which, although not heard in the city, but in which it was most flattering to be received. Boris realized this a week ago, when Rostopchin told the commander-in-chief, who invited the count to dine on Nikolin's day, that he could not be:
- On this day, I always go to kiss the relics of Prince Nikolai Andreich.
“Oh, yes, yes,” the commander-in-chief answered. - What he?..
The small group gathered in the old-fashioned, tall, old-furnished parlor before dinner looked like a solemn council of the court. All were silent, and if they spoke, they spoke softly. Prince Nikolai Andreevich came out grave and silent. Princess Marya seemed even more quiet and timid than usual. The guests were reluctant to turn to her, because they saw that she was not up to their conversations. Count Rostopchin alone kept the thread of the conversation, talking about the latest city, then political news.
Lopukhin and the old general occasionally took part in the conversation. Prince Nikolai Andreevich listened as the supreme judge listened to the report that was being given to him, only occasionally stating in silence or in a short word that he took note of what was being reported to him. The tone of the conversation was such that it was understandable, no one approved of what was being done in the political world. They talked about events that clearly confirmed that things were getting worse and worse; but in every story and judgment it was amazing how the narrator stopped or was stopped every time at the border where the judgment could refer to the face of the sovereign emperor.
At dinner the conversation turned to the latest political news, about Napoleon's seizure of the Duke of Oldenburg's possessions and about the Russian note, hostile to Napoleon, sent to all European courts.
“Bonaparte treats Europe like a pirate on a conquered ship,” said Count Rostopchin, repeating the phrase he had already said several times. - You are surprised only at the patience or blinding of the sovereigns. Now it comes to the pope, and Bonaparte no longer hesitates to overthrow the head of the Catholic religion, and everyone is silent! One of our sovereigns protested against the seizure of the possessions of the Duke of Oldenburg. And then ... - Count Rostopchin fell silent, feeling that he stood on the line where it was no longer possible to condemn.
“They offered other possessions instead of the Duchy of Oldenburg,” said Prince Nikolai Andreevich. - As if I resettled the peasants from the Bald Mountains to Bogucharovo and Ryazan, so he was the dukes.
- Le duc d "Oldenbourg supporte son malheur avec une force de caractere et une resignation admirable, [The Duke of Oldenburg endures his misfortune with remarkable willpower and resignation to fate,]" said Boris, respectfully entering into the conversation. He said this because he was passing from Petersburg had the honor of introducing himself to the duke. ”Prince Nikolai Andreevich looked at the young man as if he would like to tell him something about this, but changed his mind, considering him too young for that.
“I read our protest about the Oldenburg case and was surprised at the poor wording of this note,” said Count Rostopchin, in the careless tone of a man judging the case well known to him.
Pierre looked at Rostopchin with naive surprise, not understanding why he was worried about the bad edition of the note.
“Isn't it all the same how the note is written, Count? - he said, - if its content is strong.
- Mon cher, avec nos 500 mille hommes de troupes, il serait facile d "avoir un beau style, [My dear, with our 500 thousand troops, it seems easy to express myself in a good style,] - said Count Rostopchin. Pierre understood why Count Rostopchin was worried about the editing of the note.
- It seems that the scribblers are quite divorced, - said the old prince: - they write everything in Petersburg, not only notes, - they write new laws. My Andryusha wrote a whole lot of laws there for Russia. Today they write everything! And he laughed unnaturally.
The conversation fell silent for a minute; the old general drew attention to himself by clearing his throat.
- Did you deign to hear about the latest event at the show in St. Petersburg? how the new French envoy showed himself!
- What? Yes, I heard something; he said something awkwardly in front of His Majesty.
“His Majesty drew his attention to the grenadier division and the ceremonial march,” the general continued, “and as if the envoy had not paid any attention and as if he allowed himself to say that we in France do not pay attention to such trifles. The Emperor did not deign to say anything. At the next review, they say, the emperor never deigned to turn to him.
Everyone fell silent: this fact, which was personally related to the sovereign, could not be assessed.
- Daring! - said the prince. - Do you know Metivier? I drove him out of me today. He was here, they let me in, no matter how I asked not to let anyone in, ”said the prince, glancing angrily at his daughter. And he related his entire conversation with the French doctor and the reasons why he was convinced that Metivier was a spy. Although these reasons were very insufficient and not clear, no one objected.
Champagne was served over the roast. The guests rose from their seats, congratulating the old prince. Princess Marya also went up to him.

The ancient Greek city of Pella is the capital of the legendary Macedonian kingdom and the birthplace of the famous commander Alexander the Great. The ruins of the ancient city are located a few kilometers from modern Pella and about 40 kilometers from Thessaloniki.

The first mentions of Pella are found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. At the end of the 5th century BC. The Macedonian king Archelaus moved the capital from the sacred city of Aegi to Pella and built a magnificent palace here, the painting of which was entrusted to the famous ancient Greek artist Zeuxis. The city began to grow and develop rapidly, and at the beginning of the 4th century, Pella was already largest city Macedonia. The city reached its peak during the reign of Philip and his famous son Alexander the Great. In 168 BC. Pella was conquered and plundered by the Romans. For some time Pella remained the capital of one of the districts of the Roman province of Macedonia, but subsequently ceded its status to Thessaloniki. Over time, the city fell into decay, and an earthquake in the 1st century BC. finally destroyed it.

Research and the first excavations of ancient Pella date back to the beginning of the 20th century, but large-scale systematic work began already in the 50s of the 20th century. During the excavations, a monumental palace complex was discovered - the residence of the Macedonian kings and, in fact, the ancient Pella itself, located several south of the palace... The city was built in accordance with the urban planning system of the famous ancient Greek architect Hippodamus with rows of streets intersecting at right angles. In the center of the city was the urban Agora, surrounded by a colonnade and covering an area of approximately 70,000 square meters, on the territory of which there were shops, workshops, administrative buildings, etc. Pella was also equipped with water supply and sewerage systems. Archaeologists have discovered numerous ruins of one- and two-story residential buildings (some of them have preserved stunningly beautiful pebble floor mosaics), as well as the remains of the fortress walls, the ruins of the city harbor (in ancient times, Pella was connected to Thermaikos Gulf by a navigable lagoon) and ancient burials. Part of the archaeological site is now accessible to tourists.

The ruins of Ancient Pella are recognized as an important historical and archaeological site and is under the protection of the state. Excavations continue here at the present time and it is likely that new amazing discoveries await us in the future.

In 2009, on the site of the excavations of ancient Pella, the Archaeological Museum was opened, which is rightfully considered one of the best museums of its kind in Greece.

Did you like the article? Share it

Print article

The capital of Macedonia was the city of Pella. Greek Pictures - Thessaloniki, West Macedonia, Meteora

City of the king of kings

Recovering the memory of Pella

Story

Archeology

Mosaic

Archeology

Mosaic

see also

Write a review on the article "Pella (city)"

Notes (edit)

Links

Excerpt from Pella (city)