Alexandroupoli: Archaeologists are looking for a Roman city under today’s

An ancient Roman city is looking for archaeologists in its center. That’s because there were many archaeological findings from the Roman era that were found on the occasion of natural gas work. Specifically, 5 stone-covered graves were found in Alexandroupolis with rich decorations, on the southern coastal front of the city, within the building web, adding another piece to the puzzle of history. The announcement on the new findings was made by the archaeologist of the Antiquities Institute of Evros Philoxeni Aitatoglou at the 36th annual Archaeological Meeting on the Archaeological Project in Macedonia and Thrace, held in Thessaloniki. “The burials found, fortunately had not been significantly affected. There was, of course, a disturbance, as all the projects in the city, such as sewerage, water supply, telecommunications, went through there. However, both external and internal were saved,” Mrs. Aitatoglou told the Athenian/Macedonian News Agency. The findings came to light from work carried out under difficult circumstances, within limited time limits and with a high dose of … chance. “In essence we dig at the ends of the roads, where the pipeline passes, at a width of only 50 cm! So we get in touch with what’s found in there,” explained the archaeologist. “The hard part is that when something is detected, because we are talking about the center of Alexandroupolis, the streets and pedestrian streets where there is fun, there should be a stop sign in the municipality and traffic arrangements from Traffic, which creates trouble in the city, but also to us, which, for example, when the weather is not good, we delay and delay the rest,” he adds. However, as he points out, these are findings that archaeologists were sure they would discover, and corresponding is the certainty that there are other burials in the area. This knowledge results from previous excavations carried out on the occasion of water and sewerage projects in the 1970s-1990s, the findings of which Mrs Aitatoglou also presented to the Conference. “The important thing for us is that the findings are of the Roman era and we believe that in that place is a Roman city. We found the cemetery that is extensive and has several, rich and special findings, but what we are looking for now is to see exactly where this city was”, concluded Mrs. Aitatoglou. The positive thing is that the work will continue further north in 2024, so archaeologists hope to find new evidence that will help better connect this piece of history.