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The town became internationally famous in 1977, when the Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos unearthed what he claimed was the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great. Although the identification of Philip II as one of the kings buried there has been disputed, there is no doubt that the site is of great archaeological importance.

The larnax believed to be that of Philip II

The larnax (gold casket) which Andronikos identified as containing the remains of Philip II has a symbol of a sun or star on its lid, and this Vergina Sun has been adopted as a symbol of Greek Macedonia. It therefore became the subject of international controversy in 1991 when the newly independent Republic of Macedonia used the symbol on its flag. This outraged Greek nationalist sentiment, which saw the use of the symbol as implying a territorial claim to Greek Macedonia. In 1995 Macedonia agreed to drop the use of the symbol.

Archaeologists were interested in the hills around Vergina as early as the 1850sEvents and Trends Crimean war ( 1854 1856) fought between Imperial Russia and an alliance consisting of the United Kingdom, the Second French Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Ottoman Empire. The majority of the conflict takes place around Crimea, o, knowing that the site of Aigai was in the vicinity and suspecting that the hills were burial mounds. Excavations began in 18611861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. Events January January 1 Benito Juarez captures Mexico City January 2 Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia dies and is succeeded by Wilhelm I January 3 American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United under the French archaeologist Leon Heuzey . Parts of the Macedonian royal palace were discovered. The excavations were abandoned because of the risk of malariaMalaria ( Italian: bad air ; formerly called ague or marsh fever in English) is an infectious disease which causes about 500 million infections and 2 million deaths annually, mainly in the tropics and sub-Saharan Africa. The protozoan cause of malaria was.

In 1937Events January January 1 Anastasio Somoza becomes President of Nicaragua January 11 The first issue of Look magazine goes on sale in the United States. January 19 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, the University of Thessaloniki resumed the excavations. More ruins of the ancient palace were found, but the excavations were abandoned on the outbreak of war with ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer in 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26. After the war the excavations were resumed and during the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. and 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around, and the rest of the royal capital was uncovered. Manolis Andronikos became convinced that a hill called the "Great Tumulus" (in Greek, Μεγαλη Τουμπα) concealed the tombs of the Macedonian Kings.

In 1977 Andronikos undertook a six-week dig at the Tumulus and found four buried chambers which he indentified as tombs, hitherto undisturbed. Three more were found in 1980. Excavations continued through the 1980s and '90s. Andronikos maintained that one of the tombs was of Philip II, and another was of Alexander IV of Macedon, son of Alexander the Great. This has now become the firm view of Greek archaeologists and the Greek government, but some other archaeologists dispute this identification.

A large quantity of works of art, many in gold, were removed from the tombs. These included the larnax with the Sun of Vergina on the lid, which Andronikos maintains contained the cremated remains of Philip II. These treasures were temporarily housed in the Thessaloniki Archeological Museum. Recently they were returned to Vergina and installed in a museum which has been built inside the Great Tumulus, and is one of the finest examples of modern museology.

Note: Most published sources will say that the larnax and portraits shown above are in the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. These sources are out of date. The larnax and portraits are now in the Great Tumulus museum at Vergina. This story from the Greek newspaper Kathemerini confirms that the larnax and other Vergina treasures are now in Vergina. Vergina display enriched