The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, in collaboration with the Friends of AMTh Association, welcomes Stavroula Dadaki, archaeologist and Head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala and Thassos, for a lecture on "The Project for the Enhancement of the Archaeological Site of Philippi". The lecture will present the results of the project carried out to upgrade the archaeological site of a highly promising city of Late Antiquity.

Specifically, the ancient city of Philippi is built at the base of a conical hill in the Lekani Mountains, on a site that has historically served as a major land route connecting the coast to the inland. The city is enclosed by fortification walls with a perimeter of 3.5 kilometers, covering an area of 704 hectares. Of this, approximately 300 hectares correspond to the mountainous section, while the rest extends into the flatland part of the ancient city.

The excavated section of the city is the result of two major archaeological excavation programs: one conducted by the French School of Archaeology in the first half of the 20th century, and another in the second half of the 20th century, led by the Archaeological Society and later by the Archaeology Department of the School of Philosophy of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH).

These excavations revealed the theater and the fortifications built by King Philip II of Macedon, the political-administrative and commercial center of Colonia Philippensis, and the Christian center of the city of Apostle Paul.

The project was implemented as part of the NSRF 2014-2020 (Operational Program of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace) under the title "Enhancement of the Archaeological Site of Philippi." It included numerous works aimed at functionally upgrading the archaeological site, as well as restoration work on a section of the eastern part of the fortification walls.

With the first phase of the project, all excavated monuments are now clearly visible, allowing visitors to walk through the streets of the ancient city and comprehend its scale without the visual interruptions of previous modern interventions. The lecture will also present the results of the excavations carried out during the project, which provided new insights into the Roman and, primarily, the Middle Byzantine phase of the city of Philippi.