Dion, Pieria

Dion (Greek Δίον (n. sg. ) ) Is an ancient city in the Greek region of Macedonia in the coastal plain at the foot of Mount Olympus, about 15 km from Katerini.

The ancient site with remarkable excavations is somewhat below the modern town of the same name in a sink. The place of the modern era has about 1350 inhabitants.

The excavations were in 1928, started by Georgios Sotiriadis, former Rector of the University of Thessaloniki and continued by Georgios Bakalakis 30 years later after a short period. The third excavation phase began in 1973, led by Dimitrios Pandermalis.

Dion was founded by the Thracian tribe of the Pierier. Around 700 BC the city was conquered by the Macedonians and resettled the inhabitants in the 7th century BC under Perdiccas I.. The Macedonian king Archelaus I ( 413-399 BC) was the first time here align Olympic Festival. To him, the Temple of Zeus was built in honor. Thus the place became one important religious center of the Macedonen. Later this place was used as a military fortress of King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. The city was encompassed by walls and had an extensive paved road network. Very impressive is the swimming complex with a complicated system for the water supply line.

Behind the city walls are the remains of the Roman and Greek theater, which is used again for ideas. Also here is the ruins of the sanctuary of the Egyptian goddess Isis. In recent years, the remains of a second Isisheiligtums Zeusheiligtums were found immediately north.

The decline of the city was carried out by earthquakes and floods in the 3rd and 4th century AD

The finds from the excavations are exhibited in the place in a museum. Among them are fragments of an organ from the 1st century BC

Ancient ruins in Dion, in the background the mountain range of Mount Olympus