In the district of Naoussa, in the Prefecture of Imathia, in the fertile plain at the foot of Mount Vermio, a great Macedonian city, the ancient Mieza, has gradually been revealed in recent decades.
Mieza was a city of Votiaia (that was the name of the area of ancient Macedonia to the north and northwest of the Thermaic gulf) which was originally inhabited by the Thracian pre-Hellenic race of the Votiaians. During early historical times, with the arrival of the Macedonians, the old inhabitants migrated to a part of western Chalkidiki called Vottia.
Although the existence of settlements from the Late Bronze Age is confirmed, the area experienced its greatest prosperity in Hellenistic times. The scattered archaeological remains from the wider area of Mieza reveal a dynamic Macedonian city, which developed especially during the times of the Macedonian kings, but continued to prosper in the following centuries.
The archaeological site of ancient Mieza extends mainly between Hariessa, Kopanos and Lefkadia and includes the architectural remains of the ancient city and its necropolises. The best known to the general public and its best preserved monuments are the brilliant Macedonian tombs of Lefkadia and the theater.
A short distance from the theater was located the Agora of the ancient city of Mieza.
While remains of Stoic and other buildings have already come to light from the public center of ancient Mieza, which showed particular growth in the 4th c. BC.
In particular, from a wall with conjoined semi-columns on its facade, which probably belonged to a large public building, an inclined plane starts towards the west, leading to a portico with a Doric colonnade and square rooms, two of which were paved with pebble floors . A small temple-shaped building was excavated to the north of the covered area of the semi-columns (narrow vestibule, mainly area and entrance to the east).
It is possible that some of the buildings whose foundations or architectural remains have come to light have a religious character (ie sanctuaries) and some others, mainly in the eastern sector of the excavation, are related to commercial or political activities of the city.
The area of ancient Mieza includes the great Macedonian tombs of the Lefkadians, the site of Nymphaeum near Naoussa, which is identified with the School of Aristotle.
Also, organized cemeteries have been investigated, such as in the Roudina site and the Kamara site, where tombs dating from the 6th to the 4th century BC were discovered.
Also noteworthy are the remains of two luxurious residences at Kamara and Baltaneto sites respectively (Late Hellenistic-Roman times).
In the site "Tsifliki", as the hill rising south of the village of Lefkadia is called, there are extensive remains of the late Roman and early Christian times, which testify that life in the wider area of Mieza continued prosperously until the first post-Christian centuries.
In 2010, in the area where the ancient market is located, the archaeological dig brought to light a treasure of ancient coins dating back to the time of Alexander the Great.
The silver coins discovered are mostly from mints in Asia Minor and are believed to have been brought to Ancient Mieza by a warrior who participated in the campaign of the Macedonian conscript.
The coins were found hidden in the foundations of a restaurant in the ancient market which (as more and more remains of buildings are slowly being revealed) seems to have been quite extensive and archaeologists estimate that it must have been in operation from the middle of the 4th century BC to the first quarter of the 3rd century BC.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou