King Philip II of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great. We visited his tomb in the town of Vergina.
Born in 382BC, Philip of Macedon overthrew the reign of his infant nephew and crowned himself king at age 37. He was a philanderer and was said to care more about his troops abroad than his family at home. His son, Alexander the Great, favored his mother and never got along with his father.
After Philip II consolidated the region through conquest and diplomacy, he began preparing to attack Persia. Alas, he never had the opportunity: he was assassinated in October of 336BC. The exact reasons for his assassination are murky, but it was apparently done at the hand of his own men.
His tomb was found not too long ago in the town of Vergina.
 |
Philip’s tomb is actually a tumulus, an elaborate burial site, itself completely buried underground. It is now a museum.As buried tombs go, it’s not all that fancy, especially when compared to the Egyptians. But it beats anything we have in the states!
Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed inside. Bummer. |
 |
Outside of the area was this small little church thing. There are lots of them in Greece. They’re usually not much larger than a curb-side mailbox, so this one is giant compared to the rest of them. |
<