User:Trashpanda/Antiquities of the Thessaloniki Metro
Αρχαιότητες του Μητροπολιτικού Σιδηροδρόμου Θεσσαλονίκης | |
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| Location | Thessaloniki, Greece |
|---|---|
| Area | 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi) |
| History | |
| Periods | From classical antiquity to the modern era |
| Cultures | Ancient Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Palaeochristian, Byzantine, Ottoman |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 2006–2022[1] |
| Archaeologists | 300 at peak[2] |
| Ownership | Greek state[a] |
| Management | |
| Public access | Partial |
The Antiquities of the Thessaloniki Metro (Greek: Αρχαιότητες του Μητροπολιτικού Σιδηροδρόμου Θεσσαλονίκης) are an archaeological collection of over 300,000 items which came to light through excavations associated with the construction of the Thessaloniki Metro in Thessaloniki, Greece.
The works represented the single biggest archaeological dig in the history of northern Greece, covering an area of 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft) and spanned from 2006 to 2022. It was also the biggest rescue archaeology project in the history of the country as a whole. It brought to light artefacts dating from classical antiquity to the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, and resulted in years of construction delays due to disputes between the city and the archaeological authorities on the one hand, and Attiko Metro (later Elliniko Metro), which supervised the metro's construction, on the other. It resulted in the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), of which Greece is a member, issuing a heritage alert regarding possible destructive interventions at the archaeological sites in 2020.
Artefacts discovered are displayed in the various Thessaloniki Metro stations, while two museums, one of which will be at Sintrivani station, are under construction in order to house the majority of the finds. In addition, Venizelou and Agias Sofias stations house archaeological sites; the one at Venizelou is the first such site to be included in the interior of a metro station. The dig also resulted in the publication of a book documenting the discoveries, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.[3]
Background
[edit]
Thessaloniki was founded in 315 BC by Cassander of Macedon, successor to Alexander the Great, as a synoecism (merger) of numerous settlements around Therma.[4][5] It was named after Alexander the Great's half-sister, and wife of Cassander, Thessalonike of Macedon.[4] By the late Roman period it had become an important regional capital and an imperial residence by the emperor Galerius under the Tetrarchy,[6] who bequeathed the city with a large monumental complex. Under the Byzantine Empire, it continued as the second city of the empire after Constantinople.[5] 15 palaeochristian and Byzantine monuments in the city were recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.[7]
The idea for a Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway was first introduced by British engineer Thomas Hayton Mawson in 1918, following the the devastating Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917.[8] Mawson proposed a part-underground (under Egnatia street) metropolitan railway to connect the city's new railway station with a second station in Nea Elvetia.[9] This proposal, and others in the 60s and 70s, never materialised.
The first serious plan for a Thessaloniki Metro was published in 1987 by the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki under Vasilios Profillidis,[10] thereafter being adopted by the city government under Mayor Sotiris Kouvelas.[11] Construction of a 650 m (2,130 ft) section began in 1989 but soon stalled because of a lack of support from the government of Greece and a lack of funding, the unfinished project thereafter being nicknamed "the hole of Kouvelas".[11] In 2003 the Greek government decided to treat the project as a public work, and construction began in 2006.[2]
Already in the 1980s the potential for major archaeological finds under Egnatia street, as well as within and around the Walls of Thessaloniki, was known; in an interview with ERT3 on the day of the inauguration of the metro, Profillidis responded to concerns surrounding the close proximity of Venizelou and Agias Sofias stations, and their distance from New Railway Station and Sintrivani respectively, by explaining that a station at Aristotelous Square, the city's main public square, would yield even greater archaeological finds since it was known to be the site of the city's ancient administrative centre.[12]
Excavation works
[edit]Archaeological costs were originally budgeted at €15 million ($19 million) in 2006 but had increased nearly twelvefold to €188.5 million ($204 million) by 2023.[13] The dig was also the biggest rescue archaeology project to ever be carried out in Greece.[14] By comparison, the construction of the Athens Metro yielded approximately 50,000 artefacts and had an archaeological budget of £30 million ($89 million today).[15] The density of the discoveries was also much higher than in Athens, where the artefacts were spread over an area of 79 km2 (31 sq mi),[16] nearly four times larger than at Thessaloniki; approximately 15 artefacts per square metre of archaeological dig were discovered in Thessaloniki, compared to 0.5 per square metre in Athens.
List of major discoveries
[edit]| Station[16] | Discoveries | Image | Location (City Walls dashed) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Railway Station[17] | M | |||
| 2 | Dimokratias[17] | H | |||
| 3 | Venizelou[18] | ||||
| 4 | Agias Sofias[18] | Considered of greater importance than the findings at Venizelou.[19] | |||
| 5 | Sintrivani[20] | M | |||
| 6 | Panepistimio[20] | ||||
| 7 | Fleming[21] | L | |||
| 8 | Pylaia depot[22] | ||||
Civil and legal interventions
[edit]Public mobilisation against the removal of the antiquities at Venizelou and Agias Sofias was indicative of a general trend against the 200-year-old top-down approach of the Greek archaeological establishment, which was involved in a number of high-profile controversial interventions, including on the Acropolis of Athens.[23]
Exhibiting the collection
[edit]Archaeological sites
[edit]| External videos | |
|---|---|
  | |
 The Prime Minister and the President of Greece receive a guided tour of the Venizelou station archaeological site (in Greek – English auto-generated subtitles available) |
Museums
[edit]
The majority of the movable artefacts will be exhibited in building A3 of the Pavlos Melas Metropolitan Park, previously Pavlos Melas Army Camp,[24] which will be restored and converted into a museum at a cost of €14.5 million ($15.68 million).[25] The site is historically significant in its own right, being home to the last mosque to be built in Thessaloniki under Ottoman rule (Lembet Mosque), as well as being used as a concentration camp for Thessalonian Jews and members of the Greek resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece in World War II.[26]
Stations
[edit]See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ According to Greek Law 3028/2002:
- All archaeological discoveries in Greece dated pre-1453, both movable and immovable, are property of the State outright.
- Discoveries dated post-1453 are also property of the Greek state if they are deemed of high enough value, at the discretion of the relevant authorities.
References
[edit]- ^ "Σε «τροχιά» επανατοποθέτησης οι αρχαιότητες στον Σταθμό Βενιζέλου του Μητροπολιτικού Σιδηροδρόμου Θεσσαλονίκης" [The antiquities of Venizelos station of the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway are on "track" for reinstatement] (Press release) (in Greek). Athens: Ministry of Culture. 1 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024.
- ^ a b Attiko Metro S.A. "Ιστορικό" [History]. www.ametro.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^ Christian Archaeological Society, p. 7.
- ^ a b Adams, Winthrop Lindsay (2010). "11: Alexander's Successors to 221 BC". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia (PDF) (1 ed.). Chichester: Blackwell Publishing (Wiley). pp. 214–215. doi:10.1002/9781444327519. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2. Retrieved 4 December 2024 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ a b Bakirtzis, Charalambos (2003). "The Urban Continuity and Size of Late Byzantine Thessaloniki" (PDF). Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 57. Boston: 35–64. doi:10.2307/1291875. ISSN 0070-7546. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024.
- ^ Kousser, Rachel (2010). "25: Hellenistic and Roman Art, 221 BC–AD 337". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia (PDF) (1 ed.). Chichester: Blackwell Publishing (Wiley). p. 523. doi:10.1002/9781444327519. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2. Retrieved 4 December 2024 – via the Internet Archive.
- ^ "Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika". whc.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "The Rebuilding of Salonika". The Architects' Journal. London: The Architectural Press. 11 June 1919. p. 440. Retrieved 20 November 2024 – via the Internet Archive.
The plans of this scheme which have been finally prepared by Mr. Thomas H. Mawson, of London, include [...] two railway stations connected by an underground line [...].
- ^ Mawson, Thomas Hayton (1918). Αἱ Ἀθῆναι τοῦ Μέλλοντος καὶ ἡ Θεσσαλονίκη της Αὔριον [The Athens of the Future and the Thessaloniki of Tomorrow] (in Greek). Athens: National Printing House. p. 10. Retrieved 22 November 2024 – via Digital Library of Modern Greek Studies "Anemi".
Ἐπίσης διὰ πιθανὸν σταθμόν-τέρμα-διὰ μίαν νέαν γραμμὴν ἑνοῦσα τὸν κόλπον Μικροῦ μὲ τὸν κόλπον τοῦ Ὀρφανοῦ. Μεταξὺ τῶν δύο τούτων σταθμῶν προτείνεται ὑπόγειος ἠλεκτρικὸς σιδηρόδρομος ὑπὸ τὴν ὁδὸν Ἰγνατίου ἐπὶ τίνα ἀπόστασιν διὰ σήραγγος καὶ κατόπιν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐδάφους. Ἡ γραμμὴ αὐτὴ ὑπολογίζεται ὅτι θὰ γείνη ἡ μεγάλη «Κεντρική της πόλεως» γραμμὴ ἡ ἐξυπηρετοῦσα τὴν μεταφορᾶν τῶν ἐπιβατῶν.
[Also by a possible terminus station for a new line connecting the bay of Mikra to the bay of Orphanos. Between these two stations an underground electric railway is proposed under [Egnatia] street, for some length in a tunnel, thereafter at grade. This line is estimated to become the great "Central line" of the city, serving the transportation of passengers.] - ^ Profillidis, Vasilios (22 May 1987). "Οι προοπτικές κατασκευής δικτύου ελαφρύ μετρό στη Θεσσαλονίκη. Μελέτη των χωροταξικών, κυκλοφοριακών, και συγκοινωνιακών δεδομένων. Προτάσεις μιας κατ' αρχήν χάραξης ενός δικτύου ελαφρού μετρό και εκτίμηση του κόστους. Φάσεις μελέτης για μια ορθολογική προσέγγιση του προβλήματος" [The prospects for the construction of a light metro network in Thessaloniki. Study of spatial, traffic and transportation data. Proposals for an in-principle design of a light metro network and cost estimation. Phases of study for a rational approach to the problem.] (PDF). Scientific Conference of the Transportation Engineering Laboratory of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on the topic of "Mass Transportation on fixed tracks (tram and metro) in Thessaloniki" (in Greek). Athens. pp. 13–17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024 – via Sydirotrochia ('Railway Track') magazine.
- ^ a b "Κι όμως! Το ΜΕΤΡΟ Θεσσαλονίκης είναι έτοιμο (στα χαρτιά) από το 1987!" [It's true! The Thessaloniki Metro was ready (on paper) in 1987 already!]. www.karfitsa.gr (in Greek). 29 February 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ Kaltsidi, Maria (30 November 2024). "Β. Πορφυλίδης (sic): Τα πρώτα σχέδια του μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης το '87 και οι σκέψεις για τραμ στο κέντρο της πόλης" [V. Porfylidis (sic): The first plans of the Thessaloniki metro in 1987 and the thoughts for trams in the city centre]. www.ert.gr (in Greek). Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024.
- ^ "Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης: Στα 188,5 εκατ. ευρώ εκτινάχθηκε η δαπάνη για τα αρχαιολογικά" [Thessaloniki Metro: Costs for archaeological works skyrocketed to 188.5 million euro] (in Greek). Makedonia. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ Mendoni, Lina (11 October 2023), Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης: πέντε σταθμοί-μουσεία [Thessaloniki Metro: five museum-stations] (in Greek), Athens: Ministry of Culture, archived from the original on 27 December 2024, retrieved 27 December 2024 – via Archaiologia magazine.
- ^ de Quetteville, Harry (24 November 2004). "Metro men tread gently on ancient Greece's Sacred Way". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2024. NB: the archived version does not require a subscription.
- ^ a b Attiko Metro A.E. "Αρχαιολογικές ανασκαφές" [Archaeological excavations]. www.emetro.gr (in Greek). Elliniko Metro. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ a b The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History, pp. 179–203.
- ^ a b The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History, pp. 125–178.
- ^ Ανοιχτή επιστολή των μελών του ΚΑΣ για τον σταθμό Βενιζέλου [Open letter of the members of the Central Archaeological Council about Venizelou station] (in Greek), Athens: Central Archaeological Council, 11 November 2020, archived from the original on 30 December 2024, retrieved 30 December 2024 – via the Ministry of Culture,
Κατά τη διάρκεια κατασκευής του Σταθμού του Μετρό στην πλατεία της Αγίας Σοφίας, περίμου 300 μ. ανατολικότερα του Σταθμού Βενιζέλου, βρέθηκαν και προσωρινώς αποσπάστηκαν αρχαία οπωσδήποτε σημαντικότερα αυτών της Βενιζέλου [...]
[During the construction of the metro station at Agias Sofias square, about 300m east from Venizelou station, antiquities of undoubtedly higher importance than those at Venizelou were discovered and temporarily removed from site [...]] - ^ a b The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History, pp. 87–124.
- ^ The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History, pp. 81–86.
- ^ The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History, pp. 65–80.
- ^ Sakellariadi, Anastasia (31 December 2021). "Public Archaeology in Greece: A Review of the Current State of the Field". Ex Novo: Journal of Archaeology. 6: 57. doi:10.32028/vol6isspp45-65. ISSN 2531-8810.
Public relations activities, alongside educational ones, are without doubt the most dominant forms of public archaeology in Greece because they accommodate the top-down heritage management mechanism that the country has employed for 200 years now in order to control heritage-meaning making. [...] On the other hand, multivocal and critical approaches that are challenging the established character and role of archaeology are also developing. Recent decisions in heritage management in Greece have also contributed to this direction through the extent of protests they have stirred: the change of the legal status of five major archaeological museums, the renovation works on the Acropolis of Athens and the removal of the Byzantine crossroad excavated during the metro works in Thessaloniki.
- ^ "ΥΠΠΟ: Το Μουσείο Ευρημάτων του Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης, στο π. Στρατόπεδο Παύλου Μελά" [Ministry of Culture: The Thessaloniki Metro Discoveries Museum, in the former Pavlos Melas Army Camp] (Press release) (in Greek). Athens: Ministry of Culture. 8 October 2024. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ "Θεσσαλονίκη: Αυτά θα είναι τα εκθέματα στο μουσείο ευρημάτων του Μετρό στο Παύλου Μελά" [Thessaloniki: These are the exhibits at the Metro discoveries museum at Pavlos Melas]. www.voria.gr (in Greek). 8 October 2024. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- ^ Apostolou, Andrew (2018). "4: Greek Collaboration in the Holocaust and the Course of the War" (PDF). In Antoniou, Giorgos; Moses, A. Dirk (eds.). The Holocaust in Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 97, 103. doi:10.1017/9781108565776. ISBN 978-1-108-47467-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2024.
Bibliography
[edit]Primary sources
[edit]- Adam-Veleni, Polyxeni; Andreadaki-Vlazaki, Maria; Vasileiadou, Stella; Gatopoulou, Eugenia; Giatroudaki, Eva; Kountouri, Elena; Konstantinidis, George; Konstantinidou, Krino; Lambrothanassi, Eleni; Lambrothanassi, Eleni; Mylopoulos, Yannis A.; Papadopoulos, Theodore; Protopsalti, Tania; Svolopoulos, Demosthenis; Tzevreni, Stavroula; Choulia-Kapeloni, Souzana (2018). Adam-Veleni, Polyxeni; Mylopoulos, Yannis A. (eds.). Μετρό-ντας την Ιστορία της Θεσσαλονίκης [The Metro-none of Thessaloniki's History] (PDF) (in Greek and English). Translated by Karayianni, Giouli; Pliakas, Christos; Nikoloudi, Jina; Litou, Olga; Coniordos, Janet; Attiko Metro Translation Department; SYMMETRANS Translation Services. Thessaloniki: Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport–Attiko Metro S.A. and Ministry of Culture and Sports–Ephorate of Antiquities of Thessaloniki City. ISBN 978-960-86610-9-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2023.
- Διερευνηση εναλλακτικών προτάσεων για το σταθμό βενιζέλου λόγω αρχαιοτήτων που αποκαλύφθηκαν κατά την κατασκευή του [Investigation of alternative proposals for the Venizelos station due to antiquities discovered during its construction] (PDF) (Report). Attiko Metro. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 December 2024. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
Secondary sources
[edit]- Anagnostopoulos, Christos; Sextos, Anastasios; Bikas, Dimitrios; Stylianidis, Kosmas; Angelides, Dimosthenis; Avramidis, Ioannis; Kyrkopoulou, Kleoniki (19 May 2017). "Alternative Solutions to Preserve the Revealed Byzantine Antiquities at the Venizelou Metro Station of Thessaloniki". International Journal of Architectural Heritage. 25. 11 (4): 539–553. doi:10.1080/15583058.2016.1266415. ISSN 1558-3058.
- The author accepted manuscript of this paper is available under open access via the University of Briston Research Output portal
. Archived 3 December 2024 at the Wayback Machine.
- The author accepted manuscript of this paper is available under open access via the University of Briston Research Output portal
- Bakirtzis, Nikolas (2022). "10: Perceptions, histories and urban realities of Thessaloniki's layered past". In Fowden, Elizabeth Key; Çağaptay, Suna; Zychowicz-Coghill, Edward; Blanke, Louise (eds.). Cities as Palimpsests?: Responses to Antiquity in Eastern Mediterranean Urbanism. Oxbow Books. doi:10.2307/j.ctv25wxc84.16. ISBN 978-1-78925-770-0.
- Chronopoulos, Miltiadis; Vassilakopoulou, Georgia; Foufas, Panagiotis; Rizos, Dimitris; Chronopoulos, Petros (18–20 June 2012). Monitoring and Urgent Interventions for a Monumental Masonry Structure due to the Thessaloniki Metro Works (PDF). 5th European Conference on Structural Control. Genoa.
- Nikakis, Dimitris (2019). Κοσμήματα Ελληνιστικών και Ρωμαϊκών Χρόνων: Τα ευρήματα από τις ανασκαφές του ΜΕΤΡΟ στο ανατολικό και δυτικό νεκροταφείο της αρχαίας Θεσσαλονίκη [Hellenistic and Roman Jewellery: the finds from METRO excavations at the east and west cemetery of ancient Thessaloniki] (Archaeology PhD thesis) (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Archived from the original on 22 December 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
- Paisidou, Melina; Tantsis, Anastasios; Graikou, Georgia; Marinelli, Dimitra; Trichia, Maria (2013). "«Η τεκμηρίωση της μεσοβυζαντινής Θεσσαλονίκης. Μνημειακά κατάλοιπα και αρχειακές πληροφορίες»: συμπεράσματα ενός ερευνητικού προγράμματος" ["The documentation of mid-Byzantine Thessaloniki. Monumental remains and archival information": conclusions of a research project]. In Adam-Veleni, Polyxeni; Tzanaveri, Katerina (eds.). Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη [The Archaeological Project in Macedonia and Thrace] (PDF) (in Greek). Vol. 27. Ministry of Culture – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. ISSN 1106-5311. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2024.
- Paraskeva, Efstathia N. (2024). "Το περιοδικό Φιλόλογος και η βαλκανική του θεματογραφία: η αρχαία και Βυζαντινή ιστορία των βαλκανικών κρατών" [Philologos magazine and its Balkan subject matter: the ancient and Byzantine history of Balkan states]. In Varvounis, Manolis (ed.). Επιστημονική Επετηρίδα της Σχολή Κλασικών και Ανθρωπιστικών Σπουδών [Scientific Journal of the School of Classics and Humanities of the Democritus University of Thrace] (PDF). School of Classics and Humanities (in Greek). Vol. 3. Athens: Herodotus. pp. 87–122. ISSN 0571-7590. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2024.
- "Από τον Decumanus Maximus της αρχαιότητας στη μεσοβυζαντινή Μέση ή Λεωφόρο της Θεσσαλονίκης. Η συμβολή των πρόσφατων ανασκαφών" [From the late antique Decumanus Maximus to the middle Byzantine Mese of Thessaloniki: what the recent excavations tell us.] (PDF). Newsletter of the Christian Archaeological Society. Period 4 (in Greek and English). 41. Athens: Christian Archaeological Society. 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2024.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)- This academic newsletter also contains an extensive bibliography about excavations at Venizelou and Agias Sofias stations.
Videography
[edit]- Ξενάγηση στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο του σταθμού «Βενιζέλου» του Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης [Tour of the archaeological site of Venizelou station of the Thessaloniki Metro] (video broadcast) (in Greek – with English auto-generated subtitles available). Press Department of the Office of the Prime Minister of Greece. 29 November 2024 – via Youtube.
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External links
[edit]
- Archaeological Project in the Thessaloniki Metro on the Thessaloniki Metro section of the Elliniko Metro website.
- Archaeological Project in the Thessaloniki Metro at the Wayback Machine (archived 5 September 2024).