Macedonia A Few Words About

The Greek tribe of Makednoi (Makedones) gave their name to the land of their final settlement, Makedonia. This land was identified with a political entity, the Kingdom of Macedonia, which expanded northwards and eastwards. The kingdom ceased to exist in 168 BC, when it was conquered by the Romans. Macedonia, however, survived in Roman and Byzantine times as a name for various administrative units not necessarily overlapping with the ancient Macedonian kingdom. It reappeared in various shapes on the printed Ptolemaic and other maps of Renaissance when the ancient Greek world was rediscovered. Its borders were reshaped and standardized in the later Ottoman period for the purposes of European intervention. Thus in the late 19th century European press, diplomacy, and literature Macedonia ended up to denote roughly the backbone of the remaining provinces of Turkey in Europe. It was an important region, which had been 'stabilized', willy-nilly to prevent Ottoman collapse. Various population groups employed the name of this geographical entity as their regional appellation.
For extend information about the Macedonian History and traditions you can visit the Macedonian Heritage site.

Archaeological and Byzantine Museums Of Macedonia 

Archaeological Museum of Drama

This new museum opened on 12 December 1999. It was built by the Municipality of Drama and made over to the Ministry of Culture so that the prefecture could have an archaeological museum.

Archaeological Museum of Florina

The museum was built in the years 1963-1969.The exhibition includes topographical and architectural plans, excavation photographs, a model of the archaeological site of Petres and a representation of the storage and workshop areas of the same site.

Archaeological Museum of Olynthos, Halkidiki

The museum opened in July 1998 in a building on the archaeological site of ancient Olynthos, 5 km from Moudania, Halkidiki. The excavational finds are in the Poliyiros Archaeological Museum. The Olynthos Museum has only audio-visual material, the purpose of which is to give visitors a complete picture of the archaeological site of Olynthos, starting with the history of the city and moving on to a description of the excavation and the restoration.

Archaeological Museum at Poliyiros, Halkidiki

The Poliyiros Museum, which is in Iröou Square in the town centre, displays representative archaeological finds from all over Halkidiki. More specifically, they cover a span of time ranging from the Bronze Age to the Roman period and come from ancient Stageira (near Olympias), Toroni, Pyrgadikia, Afytos, Poliyiros, Ierissos, and Stratoni, as also from the ancient city of Olynthos.

Christian Halkidiki Exhibition at Ouranoupoli, Halkidiki

The 10th Directorate of Byzantine Antiquities has set up the 'Christian Halkidiki' exhibition in Ouranoupoli, Halkidiki, which is the village where visitors and pilgrims embark for Mount Athos. It is housed in a building near the embarkation point and the Ouranoupoli tower. Constructed in the eighteenth century, this building is known as the arsanas or 'boathouse', and was formerly used as such by the monks of Vatopedi Monastery, which owned it.

Archaeological Museum of Veroia

The museum includes collections of Hellenistic and Roman sculpture, from the city of Veroia and other sites of the district, Hellenistic pottery and figurines from the cemeteries of Veroia, Hellenistic and Roman architectural parts exhibited in the courtyard, inscriptions from Veroia and the adjacent areas and a few finds from Vergina (Aigai) and the area of Copanos (Mieza).

Royal Tombs at Vergina

Vergina, a village in Imathia, is 12 km from Veroia, 75 km from Thessaloniki, and 515 km from Athens. It has enjoyed worldwide renown in the past few decades, owing to the discovery there of the ancient city of Aigai, the ancient capital of the Macedonian kings, and its cemetery. Of particular note are the tombs of the royal dynasty, most notably King Philip II and a young prince who is identified as Alexander IV, and a cist grave. The royal tombs were discovered in 1977-8 by the archaeologist Manolis Andronikos.

Byzantine Museum of Kastoria

The Kastoria Byzantine museum, which was inaugurated in 1989, stands at the summit of the hill of the Byzantine acropolis. It is housed in a modern building. The permanent display includes a small number of icons from the many Byzantine and Post - Byzantine churches in the city of Kastoria.

Archaeological Museum of Kavala

The Kavala Museum opened in 1934, and has occupied its present premises since 1964. It is the most important archaeological museum in Eastern Macedonia, with prehistoric finds from all over the prefecture of Kavala, and from the excavations at Neapolis (old Kavala), Amphipolis, and other parts of Eastern Macedonia.

Byzantine museum of Veroia

The museum's founding mission is to make known the great wealth of monuments in Veroia and the surrounding area, which date from Byzantine and Post-Byzantine times, to make the traditions of the area known and to collaborate with other Byzantine museums in Macedonia to organize periodic exhibitions. The museum's three-storey building will house permanent exhibitions which will retain their artistic self-sufficiency.

Archaeological Museum of Thasos

A part of the Museum is open to the publicThe first building of the museum was erected in 1934. A new wing is being under construction since 1990. The museum contains three main collections of sculpture pottery architectural members.

Archaeological museum of Philippi

The museum was built in 1961 on the plans of the architects D. Triantafyllides and D. Fatouros. It includes four major collections of finds from the prehistoric settlement of Dikili-Tash, from the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Christian city of Philippi.

Papayeoryiou Museum

A private museum in Kalyvia, which is a district of Limenaria on Thasos. Limenaria is 40 km from the main town, Limenas. The museum displays archaeological finds from the Classical, Hellenistic, and Byzantine periods, and folk art. It also has an embryology section.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF KILKIS

The Museum of Kilkis was founded in 1972-73 in order to house the finds from the area of Kilkis, mostly chance finds given by individuals. The exhibition has been enriched with numerous items revealed by the recent, systematic excavations conducted in the area.

Archaeological Museum of Aiane

The museum was founded in 1991 and its construction now almost complete, was based on a study of the A.N.K.O. of Kozane which had been approved by the Direction of Museum Studies of the Ministry of Culture.The museum contains collections of finds from Aiane, the capital of ancient Elimeia, one of the regions of Upper Macedonia, and finds from the satellite settlements of the city.

Archaeological Museum of Kozane

The Neoclassical building of the museum was donated to the Archaeological Service by the Municipality of Kozane. The exhibition of finds in the first floor was opened to the public in 1989.The museum contains exhibits spanning the period from Prehistoric until early Christian times, found in various sites of the prefecture of Kozane.

Archaeological Museum of Pella

The building was originally used as a tourist pavilion but since it was the only available room, it housed the exhibition of the excavation finds from Pella. After several rearrangements of the interior, carried out in 1973, it was finally converted into a museum.

Archaeological Museum of Dion

Dion is a village in Pieria prefecture, 440 km from Athens and 85 km from Thessaloniki. Excavations not far from the village unearthed a fortified city that had been inhabited continuously from the sixth century bc to the fifth century ad. The museum opened in 1983 in a newly-constructed two-storey building. It displays finds mainly from the Dion area, but also from Olympus and the wider area of Pieria (on the first floor).

Archaeological Museum of Amphipolis

The Amphipolis Museum houses remains of the history and civilisation of Amphipolis dating from the Archaic to Christian periods. Its exhibition halls chronicle the cultural history of Amphipolis from prehistoric times down to the Byzantine period.

Archaeological Museum of Serres

he museum is housed in the Bezesten, a fifteenth-century building in Eleftherias Square in Serres town centre. This type of building was erected by the Ottoman Turks to serve as a covered market, and there are only two left in Greece now, in Thessaloniki and in Serres. The Serres Bezesten is a single-storey building 21 x 31 m with a tiled roof and six domes. It is in good condition. Having been restored and renovated, it now functions as an archaeological museum, housing archaeological finds of all periods from the Serres area.

Greece: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (Oxford Archaeological Guides)

http://www.squidoo.com/macedonian_museums