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Royal Tombs
The entrance to the tombsOn Tuesday I headed out to Vergina. Lonely Planet claims you can do Pella and Vergina in one day, and perhaps you can, but you would need to get an early start and have a copy of the bus timetables. I had neither.
I headed off to the bus station, bought a ticket and went to find the bus. Looking for bus number 9, I was unable to find it. Then a helpful fellow told me that 9 was, in fact, my seat number. After asking a couple more people, I found my bus; we boarded and headed out to Veria.
Most of the journey there was over flat plains and not particularly interesting. Veria, however, was very nice. It is built on the side of a hill, so there were some nice views as we drove up towards the centre. How the bus got through the streets though, I’ll never know. It was very tight going.
We arrived at the bus station and I went to buy a ticket to Vergina. I was pretty lucky, as it turned out. We arrived in Veria at 11:15, the exact time of the next bus to Vergina. I was lucky
Landscape 1
View from Vergina because the next bus was at 1:30 - I am glad I didn’t miss the 11:15!
After a pleasant and picturesque journey, we arrived in Vergina. I was hoping that the bus would terminate at the royal tombs, or at least give some indication that I was there. Not so. Fortunately some nice ladies noticed me looking at the tourist shops near one stop, and told me that we were at the tombs.
I jumped off the bus and headed to the tombs. From the outside, it looks like nothing more than a large mound with a couple of tunnels heading inside. Inside though was an excellent museum. There was a lot of information displayed, and thankfully it was all written in English below the Greek inscriptions.
The major focus is on the tombs of Phillip II and Alexander IV, father and son of Alexander the Great. Around the museum was displayed most, if not all, of the finds of the tombs. It is quite amazing that the tombs were found unlooted, as the goods buried with the dead were quite stunning and no doubt valuable. Unfortunately though, no photos were allowed.
I then went in
search of the other archaeological sites of Vergina, which was the capital of Macedonia before it was moved to Pella. After much confusion and searching, I found myself walking on a country road heading out of town. First site on the road was another tomb. The man there told me that the Palace was another 4 or 500 metres up the road. I headed off.
I found a sanctuary, which was not open to the public, but could not find the palace. I reached the end of the road, and also walked up a dirt track to no avail. Finally I found someone else who was looking for it - they had been able to read the sign on a gate that said the palace was closed. Not for the last time did I wonder why someone would give directions to a place, and not mention that it was closed to the public.
My time in Vergina was over, so I waited for the bus back to Veria. It came eventually and I headed back there. I was thinking of spending an hour or two wandering around Veria, but the lady at the bus station printed my ticket
before I could ask what time was the bus after the next one, and to be honest, I was pretty tired. So I had something to eat and when the bus came, I boarded and we headed back to Thessaloniki.
Once back there, I saw the line waiting for taxi’s so decided to walk back to the hotel. It was a pretty big hike, so I was tired when I got back. Didn’t do much else and had an early night.
On Wednesday, my plan was to visit the White Tower, the Archeological Museum and the Museum of Byzantine Culture. I walked down to the waterfront via a different route from Monday and went straight to the tower. I had only walked up to it from one side on Monday, but walking around it soon showed to me that the blue fence completely surrounded it, so it was closed. Again I wondered why someone (this time it was the concierge at the hotel) never mentioned this when he showed it to me on the map on Monday.
No big deal, I spent some time walking around the waterfront on the far side of the tower, discovering an
impressive monument to, I think, Alexander the Great. The statue looked like representations of him I’ve seen, and the plaque at the rear seemed to show a battle with Alexander chasing down Darius, the Persian King of Kings. Not sure which battle it was, but I’m going to say Guagemala.
I then headed over to the archaeological museum. Again, no photos allowed, but I have to admit I was surprised here and at Vergina that there was no compulsory checking in of bags. Lonely Planet said the pre-historic display downstairs was not much good, but I disagree. I enjoyed it. There was also a temporary exhibition of the finds from a recently discovered site east of Thessaloniki. Most of the discoveries seemed to be from the Roman era though. Upstairs were more displays on Macedonian finds, all quite fascinating. But the centrepiece of the museum was the Gold of Macedon exhibition. It wasn’t just displaying gold finds, but also gave a good lesson on all facets of gold production and use in Macedonia.
After a good couple of hours of wandering around, I headed to the café for a bite to eat and a good sit-down. I now
A Macedonian Tomb
This one is a way from the Royal tombs, and is probably older. regret spending so much time resting. This is because when I headed over to the Museum of Byzantine Culture, I discovered it closed in 20 minutes (seriously, who closes at 3pm??). As I’d already bought a ticket as part of my entry to the Archaeological museum, I headed in and made a very rushed tour of the place, complete with staff saying “3 o’clock” everywhere I went (alright, I get it!!). It didn’t seem that impressive to me, although I would have liked more time to check it out in detail. Most of the items on display were religious art.
Finding myself with a free afternoon, I decided to head up the hill to check out the better preserved parts of the wall. I had also seen a large tower I was keen to see up close. A hefty uphill walk ensued. The walls and tower were quite impressive, but not as impressive as the views from up there.
I then decided to walk back to the hotel. Using my map, I plotted the shortest path back to my hotel. I spent most of the walk thinking I was lost because there is a distinct shortage of street
signs here, so I had no way of confirming I was heading in the right direction once I left the path of the walls. Fortunately my sense of direction and map-reading skills were working and I eventually reached familiar territory.
The final walk was an hour long though, and combined with all the walking and museuming had left me thoroughly exhausted so I did nothing more that day.
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Liz Vincent
non-member comment
What a great place
Boy am I getting an education. You should be writing the tour guide. Fascinating place! Met up with Tim Hill on Wed night. We had dinner at the Thirlmere Chinese for Barbara's 70th birthday. Tim was most disappointed to have missed you. I gave him your travel blog address. Love mum