Byzantine-era statue embedded in wall found in 2,400-year-old Philippi

Yahoo

28-01-2025

Archaeologists in Philippi, the ancient city steeped in history and shrouded in intrigue, have just revealed a series of exciting new discoveries.
While implementing a fire safety system, workers stumbled upon a treasure trove of buildings, offering a captivating window into the city's past. Philippi, of course, rose to prominence under its founder, Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great.
Among the existing ruins, which include a theater, basilica, and ancient market, they discovered a remarkable statue of a youth embedded in the walls of a newly uncovered building, along with roads, residences, and public baths.
Archaeologists determined that some of the remains date back to the 9th and 11th centuries CE, challenging previous assumptions about the site's timeline. It appears that Philippi was not abandoned after King Philip's reign, as previously thought, but continued to be inhabited for centuries.
The data collected by archaeologists provides fascinating insights into the city's urban development and its continued occupation long after its founder's rule.
The number of visitors to Philippi increased significantly in 2024, reaching 100,000, after plateauing at 40,000 annually. In the past decade, Philippi was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, prompting Greece's Ministry of Culture to install a fire safety network to ensure the preservation of this important cultural landmark.
During the installation process, workers encountered archaeological materials, leading to the discovery of several new features of the city. These include a large building, believed to have served a public function, roads, workshops, residences, and a public bath, as reported in the Jerusalem Post.
'Every time the contractor, along the path where the trench had been dug for the pipes to pass, encountered points of archaeological interest, a new excavation had to be made for the routing of the pipes,' explained Stavroula Dadaki, director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala, in Enikos.
'The interesting thing,' Dadaki continued in Jerusalem Post, was the overlap of an Early Christian phase over a Roman road in the unidentified public structure and the public bath, which reveals the urban planning that the Macedonian city underwent.
According to Archaeological Mag, the most 'striking find" was the statue of a youth integrated into a wall. This discovery provides archaeologists with new clues about the building's purpose. The Romans, Enikos notes, often placed statues within niches.
A wall on the northern side of the 'so-called Egnatia' suggests that it was once decorated with statues. Even more intriguing is the possibility that this wall may correspond with another area of the site, suggesting that a monumental structure may have once separated two levels of the city, as per Enikos.
The Fire Safety Project in Northern Greece ultimately aided archaeologists in securing the archaeological site and mapping it using advanced geophysical methods, as per Archaeology Mag.
The unexpected discoveries at Philippi underscore the enduring potential for new archaeological insights, even at well-studied sites. The ongoing analysis of the unearthed artifacts and structures promises to further illuminate the rich history of this significant ancient city.