At a short distance from the community of Nea Messolakia Serres, the circular hill of Kasta becomes visible in the distance. At its top, has been discovered for decades, the cemetery of the Iron Age and Archaic times, while inside, as it became known in recent years, hid a magnificent funerary monument of the Hellenistic era.
Decades after the first archaeological research and nine years after the meticulous excavation, the tumulus of Kasta is ready to «reveal» the secrets that it has been hiding from public view for so many years to its first -expert- visitors.
At the entrance of the mound are the two marble sphinxes that were discovered - without heads and wings - on the first entrance. They are undoubtedly the background for the first commemorative photo of visitors before entering the monument.
Visitors descend the temporary wooden steps set up by the conservators, which lead to the interior of the tomb and - in a sense - to a unique journey through history. «It is a tomb with a tripartite structure, as the internal division is made up of three parts and this is another peculiarity of this monument. Similar monuments have two spaces and a road, while this one has three spaces and an internal road,» the head of the Serres Antiquities Ephorate Dimitria Malamidou tells the Athens-Macedonian News Agency during the tour.
Journalists, scientists, researchers, educators, tour operators and local government officials are those who -for a few days now- are getting a first glimpse of the burial monument, where restoration and maintenance work continues. For this reason, at this stage, many of the exhibits are covered, and among them there are scaffolding.
The impressive mound that aroused worldwide interest
This particular archaeological discovery caused extensive discussions both at the scientific level and in the public debate on the identity of the prominent deceased for whom it was intended, due to the peculiarity and size of the tomb, as well as the materials used.
«There is no doubt that it is a funerary monument of the Hellenistic period. But what impresses and what was not expected -because it is not common in funerary monuments, is the typology of the rich sculptural decoration, the variety of types of mosaic floors and the very extensive use of marbles, which were used abundantly both inside and outside, in the perimeter retaining wall and this is an example of wealth, »said to AP-MPA, Ms. Malamidou.
«So all this corresponds to a very rich situation, which could possibly have someone who has a connection in Hellenistic times with the royal family. Not necessarily kinship relationship, but relationship functional, as for example someone elite officials, or partner or partners of Alexander the Great who had stayed in Amphipolis or even that came from the region», adds.
Besides, Amphipolis was a very important port of the Macedonian Kingdom as well as the «base» for the expansion of the Greek expeditionary corps to the East. The excellent location near the gold mines of Paggaio, as well as the water transport of both from the river Struma and from the sea, was the reason that the conquered and annexed to the territory of, in 357 e.g. Philip II.
In fact, it continued to be a very important city in the remaining years of the Hellenistic period, while its geopolitical and geostrategic role was constantly important until the west of the Macedonian Dynasty, as it was one of Perseus' last refuges before the conquest of the Macedonian territories by the Romans.
«The monuments of Amphipolis prove this, because it is too rich and the Hellenistic necropolis (has already been excavated too much by all the archaeologists who have worked in Amphipolis), the phases of the Hellenistic and Roman phases of the walls are very important and are visible already, that is the pieces of the walls of the visiting we visit the show, as the show and the findings exhibited in the museum of Amphipolis », stressed the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities Serres.
Inside the burial monument
In the lobby of the monument, murals are visible on the side surfaces that mimic the marble lining that begins from the second area. «This is a mural with imitation marble. It is actually lime plaster and in some places it has a painted decoration to make the “water” of the marble. This particular mural was common in the Hellenistic era,» Malamidou said. In the same area, the mosaic floor can be seen in some places, forming geometric patterns with pebbles.
From the next room, the lining with Thassos marble begins, while the variety of mosaic floors continues. «There is a second type of mosaic, with pieces of marble and red mortar, which is also common from other monuments in Macedonia».
The impressive mosaic floor depicting Persephone's abduction by Pluto is not visible to visitors at this stage for safety reasons.
For the same reason, one of the two facing Caryatids is covered, which, together with their pedestal, are over 3.5 metres tall. Visitors can see the second one, up to neck height, since its head is also temporarily covered. However, he will notice the details carved on Thassos marble stones and will «stand» on her left foot, which is protruding.
«The last chamber is the mortuary one, the one that has in its centre and low, under the floor, the ark tomb. There the first burial had taken place, and periodically and in later phases other dead of the same family were buried. In total, bones were found that correspond to at least five skeletons», explained Dimitria Malamidou.
According to her, the whole illustration of the monument (Persephone's abduction by Pluto, Caryatids and the Sphinxes) has to do with the Underworld. «It's only natural, since ... we are in the underworld! It all has to do with religious beliefs about death and resurrection,» he said.
Asked to comment on the view that the monument was constructed by order of Alexander the Great in memory of Hephaestion, the k.Malamidou said: «It is a little aioli the proposal, although it is interesting and attractive to the public. For me it is not based somewhere really and realistically with the data of archaeological research. This will be seen in the future when the work goes ahead and all the findings are examined in great detail. For the time being I do not think that this is the case.».
The disasters over the centuries and the ...onslaught of the grave robbers
When the archaeologists approached the site for the first time, they found all the areas filled with soil and the fill quite disturbed. The bones were found jumbled and the mortuary chamber had the most damage to the surfaces, both because it was the deepest buried in the ground and because it had been breached by grave robbers. «There are three burrows where the grave robbers came in and stole what they found. Tomb digging is something that causes a lot of damage to the monuments because it takes away our finds and also destroys the monuments themselves,» he noted.
In particular, he reported that the door of the death chamber was broken inwards and smashed. «It is typical that it is a double-leaf marble door, which was broken into pieces, mainly at the bottom, so that they could break it down. This door, is outside the mound and is being maintained. Once welded, it will be exposed to the site,» he pointed out.
Scaffolding inside the monument for maintenance and restoration work
At the moment, scaffolding is installed in the area, on which the workers who do the restoration and maintenance work step. «The two disciplines work together, since they are working at the same time. For example, for the architrave above the Caryatids, which is cracked on one side and needs to be restored, the restoration will be working. At the same time, the conservators are cleaning the surfaces of the marbles, statues and sculptures and reattaching some of the pieces of the marble cladding that were found fallen during the excavation,» Malamidou explained.
The last phase of the work will be on the mosaics, after the scaffolding is removed. «It's an overworked monument that will need to have a narthex through it, so the scaffolding will not be removed completely. It will just be lightened to make it more accessible,» he explained.
Other work is being done outside the monument, such as the painted frieze that used to be on the top of the walls, the pieces of which have been transferred to the museum and are being preserved in the workshop. «Also, the restoration people will do an experimental reclamation of the marble cladding. The marble spears that had been found in the river around ’30, near the Leon of Amphipolis and originally apιθώωv there, because it was the only monument that existed at that time, after we found that they came from this monument were transferred here and will be used again to do something like restoration with the original material, »stressed the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities.
The tomb made by the ...cut and cover method
The tumulus of Kasta was actually a natural hill, very close to the Iron Age and Archaic cemetery that archaeologists uncovered decades ago and related to the local populations living in the area. When the Athenians came, it ceased to be used as a cemetery, but in Hellenistic times this area began to be used again. «Because it is precisely in the Macedonian phase that this habit of making mounds of earth over the tombs of the great and the rich, such as lords or priests, begins, they used this hill that was a ... ready-made mound to make this large monument and they added another color over it to make it even larger,» said Demetria Malamidou.
There are several epigraphic evidence also from all these time phases and from the Hellenistic phase and also there are nine tombs Macedonian type that have already been excavated in the necropolises of Amphipolis. Therefore the monument the specific for researchers was not a huge surprise, as it was not something unexpected.
The image of the region in ...2027
Gradually, the ....care of a part of the older necrotheatre will begin, so that it can be visited and give the visitor the opportunity to tour the top of the hill. «The complete picture that we will have to offer visitors when all the work is completed will be the entire perimeter enclosure of the mound, it will be the burial monument itself and of course the infrastructure for the reception of visitors around the mound, with parking, reception, information and rest rooms and a small walk to the top of the mound where a part of the oldest cemeteries that have been excavated at the top of the hill, before it became a mound, will be restored and visible», she concluded. Malamidou concluded.
He also described as a very pleasant occasion the performance to the public of this monument, for which there has been much discussion over the years and said that it is a first step for the full performance of the monument, since, as he stressed, «the monuments are not tourist attractions but are social goods and should be enjoyed by the people.».
Varvara Kazantzidou
PHOTO/VIDEO: A. VLACHOS - A. CHIRAS
