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The eastern cemetery of Thessaloniki : antiquities in the area around the university of Thessaloniki

• Τσιμπίδου - Αυλωνίτη, Μαρία

The cemeteries of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Early Christian periods extended beyond the walls of Thessaloniki, in direct relation to the road axes that started from the corresponding gates. More specifically, the area today occupied by the University of Thessaloniki’s campus encompasses a large part of the core of the Eastern cemetery, and excavation work there contributes significantly to our knowledge about its more general spatial organization and the historical topography of the area.The first extensive rescue excavation was undertaken by the Archaeological Service in 1966, simultaneously with the construction of the university’s campus. Since then, there has been frequent and repeated exploration down to the present, occasioned by the expansion of various schools and infrastructure works. Since the ancient necropolis was not cut off from daily life, in addition to hundreds of grave monuments there have also come to light stone wells and cisterns that serviced graveside rituals, as well as storage spaces and workshops, and shops for the sale of vessels connected with worship at tombs.Nonetheless, what we found in 2003 during the brief excavation on the “Asylo tou Paidiou” property at the University of Thessaloniki’s’ southwest corner was entirely unexpected: two rooms, investigated in an entirely piecemeal way, which comprised a small section of a luxurious villa built around the mid-4th century A.D. only 100 meters outside the city’s eastern walls. One very interesting element of this discovery was a mosaic floor with complex geometric motifs executed in the opus tessellatum technique.For technical reasons, the excavation was not completed, and today construction work for the creation of the “Sintrivani” station of the Thessaloniki metro is under way at the boundaries of the property.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

νεκροταφεία, Θεσσαλονίκη

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