About Vergina Museum
The Vergina Museum in northern Greece contains some of the most astonishing ancient tomb discoveries in history – namely tombs said to be of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, and Alexander IV, the conqueror’s son.
History of Vergina Museum
The tombs were discovered by Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos in 1977 and, though there has been much debate on the matter, many – including the Greek government – believe it likely that the tombs do in fact belong to these famous historical figures.
In 1993 a set of underground enclosures were built to enclose and protect the tombs and this opened to the public a few years later as the Royal Tombs of Vergina Museum. Externally, the museum is contained within a reconstructed earth mound which covers the site and is similar to what is believed would have originally appeared above the tombs.
Vergina Museum today
The Vergina Museum can be found in the centre of the modern town of Vergina – sometimes spelt Verghina – which was once the ancient Macedonian capital of Aigai.
Visitors descend through the subterranean passageways to enter the museum from where they can explore both the tombs themselves and a number of exhibitions showcasing artefacts from the site and the local area.
A virtual museum, “Alexander the Great, from Aigai to the World” and a model of the entire archaeological site is planned for the main entrance hall. Funding for the project came from the EU’s NSRF business program on “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, which will provide 10 million euros in total for the reconstruction, expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
Getting to Vergina Museum
Vergina Museum is located 75 km west of Thessaloniki, Greece, centered around the royal tombs built by the ancient Kingdom of Macedon at Aigai. From Thessaloniki, you can take a KTEL bus from Thessaloniki to Veria (1 hr or 1 hr 20 minutes) and from Veria the connecting bus to Vergina (20 minutes).
The round-trip ticket to Veria costs roughly 10 euros and the trip from Veria to Vergina costs less than 2 euros. In Vergina, the bus stops in the immediate vicinity of the museum.
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