Unknown Greek ancient city discovered
An international research team at Gothenburg University’s Department of Historical Studies say they have discovered an unknown ancient city in central Greece that could shed light on an area of the country which had up until now been considered a backwater in antiquity.
“We found a town square and a street grid that indicate that we are dealing with quite a large city. The area inside the city wall measures over 40 hectares. We also found ancient pottery and coins that can help to date the city,” Robin Ronnlund, PhD student in classical archaeology and ancient history at Gothenburg and leader of the fieldwork, told the Swedish university’s website.
The site said that archaeologists, in collaboration with the Vlochos Archaeological Project, are examining the remains of towers, walls and city gates – dated roughly from the 5th century BC through to the Roman era, when it was abandoned – on the slopes and summit of a hill called Strongylovouni at the village of Vlochos on the Thessaly plain.
Hardly anything is visible on the ground below, the report said, adding that the aim is to avoid excavation and to instead use methods such as ground-penetrating radar.
“What used to be considered remains of some irrelevant settlement on a hill can now be upgraded to remains of a city of higher significance than previously thought, and this after only one season,” Ronnlund told the site, adding that “the fact that nobody has never explored the hill before is a mystery.”
The Vlochos Archaeological Project is a collaboration of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa and the Swedish Institute at Athens.
