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The Environment

Researchers Have Unearthed a Lost City in Greece Dating Back 2500 Years

It's not everyday you unearth a 40-hectare metropolis...

Photo: SIA/EFAK/YPPOA

Archaeologists have unearthed a lost Greek city five hours north of Athens dating back a full 2,500 years.

The researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the University of Bournemouth were exploring around the Strongilovoúni hill when they uncovered the site, which spans a full 40 hectares inside buried city walls.

We’ve all been in the same scenario at some point of course – go out on a hike, get up the hills, discover a lost Greek metropolis – but the size of the find makes this story particularly intriguing.

Some of the ruins in question were previously known to exist, but were thought only to be the remains of a minute, insignificant settlement. It wasn’t until the researchers, headed by Robin Rönnlund, explored further that they found it to be what it was – a huge city buried under the ground.

The walls and towers from the air… Photo: SIA/EFAK/YPPOA

The discovery could well help provide answers to many questions that currently surround ancient Greek society and their way of life.

Already the archaeologists have excavated pottery and coins from the site dating back to 500 BC and found the remains of walls, city gates and towers on the hill.

The city is thought to have risen and flourished from 500 BC to around 300 BC before being abandoned, possibly due to Roman invasion.

Rönnlund told The Local: “It feels great. I think it is [an] incredibly big [deal] because it’s something thought to be a small village that turns out to be a city, with a structured network of streets and a square.”

Rich Potter, Derek Pitman, Robin Rönnlund, Fotini Tsiouka, Ellen Siljedahl, Matilda Forssén, Johan Klange Photo: SIA/EFAK/YPPOA

He added in a statement released by the University of Gothenburg: “A colleague and I came across the site in connection with another project last year, and we realised the great potential right away. The fact that nobody has ever explored the hill before is a mystery.

Photo: SIA/EFAK/YPPOA

“Very little is known about ancient cities in the region, and many researchers has previously believed that Western Thessaly was somewhat of a backwater during Antiquity. Our project therefore fills and important gap in the knowledge about the area and shows that a lot remains to be discovered in the Greek soil.”

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