Dropped antiquitieswhich have been disclosed Venizelos Station in the context of its construction underground Thessaloniki.

According to a relevant announcement from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the antiquities were temporarily separated for re-positioning in the same place, at level -1.

According to the announcement, the implementation work is planned to be brought to the attention of the competent services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports during the first half of the new year, and the movement of antiquities will begin in April 2023. At the same time, repair work will continue, so that according to the schedule, the station will be commissioned at the end of 2023. By moving specific remnants that are integral with completeness and continuity, further preservation of evidence of urban organization and the historical urban fabric of the city in this particular place is ensured.

As he stated Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, “In the context of the construction of the Thessaloniki Metropolitan Railway, the largest urban excavations ever carried out in Thessaloniki, as well as in our country, have been carried out, which contributes to tracing and documenting the history of the city from its foundation to the beginning of the 20th century. The largest archaeological site is being created at Venizelos Station as part of an international technical project. The work of the temporary detachment of antiquities made it possible to discover the remains of previous historical periods, which could not be studied otherwise and in such a volume. Thanks to interdisciplinary research, approved by the Central Archaeological Council, all individual antiquities are returned to their original position and exhibited in the building of Venizelos Station. Thus, conscientiously following the archaeological law and internationally recognized scientific ethics, we save, protect the material existence of antiquities and restore the image of the area in front of the detachment. The Ministry of Culture and Sports, through its competent services, worked systematically for three years, coordinating a broad interdisciplinary working group to complete an unprecedented complex and complex archaeological project. Congratulations to all of them. By executing a complex and massive archaeological project under a tight schedule driven by the commitment of a government engineering project of this magnitude, we are demonstrating our respect for the city’s past by proving that Ancient and Metro can coexist. In 2023, the people of Thessaloniki will be proud of a state-of-the-art metro with museum stations that showcase their city’s living connection to its present and past.”

Excavation history