Largest building of ancient Greece, The Palace of Aigai – a United Nations World Heritage site – reopens to the public after US$22 million, 16-year renovation
- The palace, where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king and which was destroyed by Romans in 148BC, was built more than 2,300 years ago
- ‘What we are doing today is an event of global importance,’ Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at an inauguration event at the site
It was the largest building of classical Greece: the palace where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king before he launched a conquest that took him as far as modern-day Afghanistan.
The Palace of Aigai, in northern Greece, was fully reopened to the public on Sunday following a 16-year renovation that cost more than €20 million (US$21.9 million) and included financial support from the European Union.
It was built more than 2,300 years ago, during the reign of Alexander’s father, Phillip II, who had transformed the kingdom of Macedonia into a dominant military power of ancient Greece. Aigai was its royal capital.
After the assassination of his father, Alexander was crowned at the palace in 336BC before launching a military campaign that created an empire stretching into modern-day India.
“After many years of painstaking work, we can reveal the palace … What we are doing today is an event of global importance,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at an inauguration event at the site on Friday.