Near Naoussa, at the site "Isvoria", in the area where the ancient Macedonian city of Mieza has been identified and is being excavated, is the Nymphaeum where the philosopher Aristotle taught the young Alexander, shortly after the middle of the 4th century BC.
It is a place with international interest, as well as the radiation of the maxim of the ancient philosophers Aristotle is lasting and uninterrupted.
This sanctuary of the Nymphs is located in a wonderful landscape filled with lush vegetation and springs of running water, just as ancient writers described it. There, the cave, the ruins of the galleries and the shadowy walks of the royal school are preserved. The greatest philosopher of antiquity here taught the greatness of classical Greek thought and the ideals of Platonic philosophy to the son of the King of Macedonia Philip II, Alexander and the other citizens of the Macedonian Court. The meeting of these two greatest figures of the ancient world in Nymphaeum of Miesza was to decisively influence the future of humanity, and of the entire Western Civilization.
The area occupied by the Nymphaeum, i.e. the sanctuary dedicated to the Nymphs, is a very impressive natural landscape, where the ancient remains - the masonry of a two-storey portico with Ionic P-shaped columns - combined with three natural caves that exist there, form the main area of the school. The vertical surface of the rock, where the holes for the support of the roof beams can be seen, formed the back of the shadow gallery, built at that time (350 BC onwards), where Aristotle taught "the moral and political discourse ( Plutarch VII, 668) to the young shoots of the Macedonian nobles. In the Archaeological Museum of Veria there are tiles and clay tiles from the roof of the portico. The landscape where the Master walked with his students on the riparian paths, full of dense vegetation, while around them gushing from the springs and flowing calm cool streams, is complemented a little further by an even larger cave, with two carved entrances, and clear cult use.
Although the excavations have not been completed, the archaeological site is still open to the public.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou