Macedonia : The city of ancient Dion

Encyclopedia Britannica
The layout of the ancient city of Dion had a brilliant street design for its time.

The village owes its name to the important sanctuary dedicated to Zeus (Greek "Dias"), leader of the Twelve Gods who dwelt on Mount Olympus, as recorded by Hesiod. The ruins of the ancient city lie within its boundaries. Thyia, daughter of Deucalion, bore Zeus two sons, Magnes and Makedon, who dwelt in Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus.

The first mention of Dion in history comes from Thucydides, who reports that it was the first city reached by the Spartan general Brasidas after crossing from Thessaly into Macedon on his way through the realm of his ally Perdiccas II during his expedition against the Athenian colonies of Thrace in 424 BC. According to Diodorus Siculus, it was Archelaus I who, at the end of the 5th century BC, gave the city and its sanctuary their subsequent importance by instituting a nine-day festival that included athletic and dramatic competitions in honor of Zeus and the Muses.

The site of ancient Dion was first identified by the famous English traveler William Martin Leake on December 21, 1806, in the ruins adjoining the village of Malathria. He published his discovery in the third volume of his Travels in Northern Greece in 1835. Léon Heuzey visited the site during his famous Macedonian archaeological mission of 1855 and again in 1861. Later, the epigraphist G. Oikonomos published the first series of inscriptions. Nevertheless, systematic archaeological exploration did not begin until 1928. From then until 1931, G. Sotiriadis carried out a series of surveys, uncovering a 4th-century BC Macedonian tomb and an early Christian basilica. Excavations were not resumed until 1960 under the direction of G. Bakalakis in the area of the theatre and the wall. Since 1973, Professor D. Pandermalis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has conducted archaeological research in the city.

In 2006, a statue of Hera was found built into the walls of the city. The statue, 2200 years old, had been used by the early Christians of Dion as filling for the city's defensive wall

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[philip11901]

MACEDONIA FOREVER GREEK!! :)

[ANCIENTHOPLITIKON1st]

Good Doco, I was there in 1991 and recently in 2008, the evidence clearly shows Macedonia was Greek in origin. FYROM has no argument or claim of ownership for things Hellenistic, period!

[lordgreek2013]

I was also there this summer. we still find gold coins in the fields engraved with alexanders face on them ALONG with ancient greek NOT slavic. The fact is the fyrom crowd came into light in the 1940s. Before that you people were silent. Lets be honest here, you people took someone elses identity because you were too ashamed of your own. with the help of people like george soros who had a vested interest in making that a recognized country. Know who myou are.

[mitko880]

Where are the so called greek gods?

[pics333]

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