Macedonia: Edessa Page 2

On Odos Makedhonomakhon are some nice old houses; the Archbishop's Palace offers a terrace with a wonderful view, with the beautiful Monastery of the Kaisariana in the foreground. The church of Koimisis tis Panayias is the archiepiscopal chapel, and incorporates columns that were taken from a previous temple on the site.

The old medieval walls of the town can be spotted near there off to the right. At the north end of town is a single span Bridge , which the Via Egnatia passed over, and which is either of Roman or Byzantine date. There's a 15th century mosque behind the clock tower with Roman inscriptions and 5th century mosaics that were found in 1963 at the site of the ancient settlement.

The archaeological excavations of the old town in the Longos area , which is north of the Thessaloniki road, have revealed the remains of a Macedonian fortress and its wall (from which there are fine views of the green Macedonian plain) built in the 4th century BC and restored by the Romans, as well as ruins of early Christian basilicas.

The town was known in ancient times from an inscription at Delphi, and was located at a highly strategic point on the Via Egnatia, which made it a very important city to the Romans.

Before Vergina was identified as the ancient Macedonian capital, Aigai, Edhessa was one of the towns considered as a possibility. Cemeteries were found here as well.

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