Archaeological site of Philippi

First things first: there is far less to see here than at most other ancient sites in Greece. The ruins are just that: ruins, and aside from the theatre, not particularly well-preserved. But it's the history here that really makes Philippi impressive. Given its name by King Phillip II of Macedon, father to Alexander the Great, it was also the site of a pivotal battle from Roman history. Just outside the city walls in 43 BC, an army lead by Julius Caesar's heirs Octavian and Mark Antony, faced off against an army lead by Caesar's assassins Cassius and Brutus. Caesar's heirs won the day, and the Roman Republic was no more. And of course, there's the connection with early Christian history as well - the Apostle Paul visited here and was thrown in jail for preaching in the Forum before making a miraculous escape. It's also reputedly the site of the first Christian church and first Christian baptism in Europe. 

Honestly, a good knowledge of ancient history and some imagination are the best tools for fully enjoying this site. But despite the lack of ruins to see, it can still be quite an interesting and engaging 2-3 hour visit.

Logistics-wise, we drove to this site from our base in nearby Kavala. Aside from Athens, driving in Greece is actually quite OK as the roads are in fairly good condition. The site itself is quite a large area, and when we visited in September 2018 we had almost the …

Philippi – now part of Eastern mainland Greece - developed into a strategic provincial town under Roman rule and became an early centre of Christianity. Although its remains are not up to par with the great Ancient Greek sites such as Olympia or Delphi, I found it interesting enough. With its Roman and Christian roots, it has a completely different background story than the other pure Greek WHS.

I walked around the archaeological site at ease for more than 2 hours. It is a large area that consists of different sectors. The path from the eastern entrance first passes the theatre. This originally Greek theatre was transformed by the Romans into an arena for animal fights. Their descendants, the early Christians, wanted to have nothing to do with that. They put it out of use and let it perish. Nowadays it is again a recognizable theatre with rows of seats, where a theatre and music festival is held annually. Interesting reliefs and sculptures still adorn the outside of its walls.

Central to the site is an open square, the former Roman forum. Just like in the rest of Philippi there is not much of it left: the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 619, but it looks like it happened last week. All stones that have fallen are still lying on the ground. Only the contours of such structures as a row of shops can still be seen.

At the edge of the archaeological site, there …

Oct 2017 - Another day in Greece….. another “Greek” ruin….! Well not really - ok Philippi is in Greece and was named by Philip II of Macedon in 356BC when he captured it for its nearby gold mines and strategic position, but this is no Delphi or Delos. There are some remains of “Greek” civilisation - but what you are going to see is primarily a late Roman colony planned as “Colonia Victrix Philippensium”. This occurred as “late” as 30BC following the Battle of Philippi 10 years earlier, and the city then developed into an early centre of Christianity - particularly from the 4th C, until it withered in the late 6th C.

Greece has only added 2 sites to its inscribed list in the 21st Century - Corfu in 2007 and Philippi in 2016. One can understand perhaps a certain reluctance to put forward yet more archaeological sites from classical “Greek” civilisation and the “Roman” and “early Christian” ruins of Philippi do “fill in” another period across the long “continuum” of Greek history. But I do wish they would get round to Knossos and Akrotiri!!

My main memory of Philippi is of a vast area of stone blocks hardly rising above ground level, which form the layout of the Roman City (Photo). Scattered around are a few taller pillars and walls, but the site lacks any really significant “sight” whether artistic or architectural. The, originally “Greek”, theatre is not particularly noteworthy among many such remaining …

Philippi has a spot in the history books for two reasons. First, it was on the fields of Philippi that the Roman Republic ended when the final battle was lost to forces of Octavian and Markus Antonius. Then, it’s listed in the bible as the place Christianity came to Europe. Both events show in the ruins of Philippi. The city was remodelled by Octavian. And several early Christian churches were built here. Both have left there mark in the ruins you will get to see.

I spend roughly 1.5h on site which includes a nice museum. And while these ruins are great, Greece already has many sites listed from the period. I do wonder how many more Greek ruins should be inscribed?

Getting There

Coming in from Thessaloniki I followed Stanislaw’s description and it worked to a point. There are regular busses (normal, express) running more or less hourly from the main bus station in Thessaloniki to Kavala (2-2.5h). As far as I could tell the first bus runs at 8 a.m.

From Kavala jump on any bus to Drama and get off at Krinides. Important: There is also a town named Philippi, but the archeological site is in Krinides.

From Philippi you could connect eastwards towards Turkey. As much as I want to see the Hagia Sophia, given the current political situation I did not invest any time in researching this option.

Another interesting option is going North to Banska for Pirin …

Visited August 2016.

It is possible to visit Philippi as a day trip from Thessaloniki, although you should start very early in the morning. Take the first bus to Kavala from KTEL Makedonia bus station at 6 am (around 2h20min) and change there for a local bus going towards Drama, get out in Philippi (20 min, lots of buses), very close to the entrance to the site.

The entry fee to the site and the museum is 6 €. You will get a leaflet with the plan of site and potential paths to follow. No guide or guide books in English available.

The site itself is not very enormous and comprises 3 parts. Acropolis situated above the archaeological remains contains mostly medieval walls and is not very spectacular, but the views from there are really nice: you get the panorama of the Roman and Christian sites and the battlefield from 42 BC. To get there involves a steep 30-minute hiking through the bushes – the path is not easy to find, it stars just behind the fence very close to the museum.

The other parts of the property are divided by a road that used to be part of Roman Via Egnatia. The upper part of the old walled city comprises Greek/Roman theatre, remains of some temple and footings of an old basilica, called Basilica A. Every year in August there is a Theatre Festival held at the site. Although the city was founded by Philip II of Macedonia, because …