A settlement of the latest Neolithic (5300 - 4500 BC) with important findings, one of the first to be investigated in the area of Macedonia. From the 7th c. BC it was the most important city of the Vottians. Its name is pre-Greek, probably meaning wild fig. In 479 BC was destroyed by the Persians. From 432 BC it became the seat of the "Council of Chalkidea". It was completely destroyed by King Philip II in 348 BC. Remains of the archaic city were found on the southern hill, where a market, parliament, shops and residences were excavated. The classical city spreads over the northern hill and is surrounded by a brick wall with gates and towers. The city is built according to the "horse system". The building blocks are defined by parallel avenues (5 - 7 m wide) from N. to S. and vertical streets from E. to W. More than 100 houses have been excavated. All had a courtyard, where the rooms and men's rooms open, a kitchen, a bathroom with clay baths and storerooms, while many were two-story. Similar houses were found in other cities of Macedonia, as well as in Delos, Attica, Thessaly, Priini etc. The city was very carefully laid out with cobbled carriage roads, sidewalks and a comprehensive water supply system. In the SE. of the settlement extends the area of mansions, with large houses with peristyle courtyards and decorated with beautiful mosaic floors (formerly "Villa of Agathi Tychis"), from the end of the 5th century to the beginning of the 4th century BC. Outside the city, many graves were investigated in three cemeteries. Representative findings from the houses and cemeteries are exhibited in the Polygyros Museum. The city revived at least during the 6th century. A.D.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou