GREECE MACEDONIA EMATHIA VERGINA TEMENIDS

The 'Temenids' or 'Argead dynasty' was an ancient Macedonian royal house, founding and ruling the kingdom of Macedonia from about 700 to 310 BC. In the 'Royal Burial Cluster of the Temenids' twenty-one of their tombs came to light, which date from the Archaic to the early Hellenistic period. The cemetery was created since about 575 BC with funerary pyres as oldest burials. Remains of the weapons and other objects dedicated to the dead heroes link the Macedonians of the Archaic period closely with the world of the Homeric epics. - Around 540 / 530 BC the former pit graves gave way to built cist-graves, which were continued into the 5th century BC, steadily becoming larger until they were large underground chambers of 35-40 m². Particularly monumental are two large underground tombs of the 5th century BC with Ionic columns and stone entrance steps. The so-called 'heroon', built above ground in the 5th century BC, was apparently the centre of the complex. - Despite extensive looting, rich grave offerings have been recovered, including gold disks with the 'Macedonian star', one century before Philip II.

Most of the excavated tombs have been re-filled and only a few can be visited in the northwestern part of the large area of the cemetery.