Archaeological Site of the Hellenistic city of Florina

The archaeological site is part of a city of the kingdom of Lygistida in Upper Macedonia that began to be excavated in 1981. The main phase of the city’s prosperity goes back to the Hellenistic Years. The Hellenistic city of Florina is located in the southern part of the city, on the hill of Agios Panteleimon. The habitation in this area seems to have been continuous since the second millennium BC. and the Byzantine times, as evidenced by movable finds and residential remains.

On the northern slope of the hill, at the site of the former “Xenia” hotel, near the chapel of St. Panteleimon, who also gave the name to the hill, in the period 1930-1934 A, Keramopoulos and G. Bakalakis carried out a systematic excavation. A part of the ancient city was revealed, the remains of which were destroyed in the 1950s with the construction of the hotel. In 1984 the site was declared archaeological, while the excavations in this decade were carried out in discontinuous, short-term periods, with limited funding (mainly from the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace). The archaeological work in this area was intensified in the period 1995-1999 when the excavation research and the preservation of the archaeological site was included in the 2nd CSF and financed by its program District D. Macedonia. During this period, the excavated area was expanded and systematic maintenance of the architectural remains began to be carried out under the supervision of the 19th Ephorate of PKA, the director M. Lilimbaki-Akamati and the professor of Classical Archeology of the AUTH I.M. Akamati. In the same period, the site development study was prepared, which was implemented in the period 2002-2005 with the inclusion of the project of maintenance and development of the site in the program of Region D. of Macedonia of the 3rd KPS.

The site was fenced off, access was created for the public and the disabled, a guardhouse, WC, storage, rest pavilions and the sensitive remains were housed.