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Modern Description: The city's first inhabitants were Phrygians, who were later expelled by the Macedonians. Fortified during the reign of Philip II (356-336 BC), Edessa developed into a significant urban centre in ancient Bottiaea. In Roman times it was a halting place on the Via Egnatia.
The 'upper city' (acropolis) was at the edge of the rock of modern Edessa and enclosed between the rushing waters of the waterfalls by a triangular peribolos. The 'lower city' spreads at the foot of the crag in the fertile area of Longus and is surrounded by a mighty wall (from the late 4th century BC onwards). Inside the city the basic road arteries which terminated at the gates in the walls have been uncovered, as well as various buildings, mainly of Late Roman and Early Byzantine times (houses, workshops, warehouses). The columns with manumission inscriptions, which stand in line along the central thoroughfare (via colonnata, l. approx. 100 m) and other scattered architectural members, originate from the Roman temple of the goddess Ma, that is the Great Mother.
An Early Christian three-aisled basilica (6th century) has been excavated at Longus, near the waterfalls. A significant part of the sculpted decoration and opus sectile floors (originally mosaic) have survived. In the nearby Holy Trinity Monastery there are Early Christian sculptures and inscriptions.
Wikidata ID: Q38281331
Trismegistos Geo: 8338

Info: Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean

(Archaeological Atlas of the Aegean, Ministry of the Aegean)

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