Vergina (in Greek Βεργίνα) is a small town in northern Greece, located in the prefecture of Imathia, Central Macedonia. 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.

Vergina is about 13km south-east of the district centre of Veroia and about 80km south-west of Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia. The town has a population of about two thousand people and stands on the foothills of Mount Pieria, at an elevation of 120m (360 ft) above sea level.

History

The modern town of Vergina was founded in 1922 near the two small agricultural villages of Koutles (Greek: Κούτλες; Turkish: Kütles, Kütleş; Slavic: Kutlesh - Кутлеш) and Barbes (Greek: Mπάρμπες, Turkish: Barbeş, Slavic: Barbesh - Барбеш) previously owned by the Turkish bey of Palatitsi and inhabited by 25 Greek families in his employ as serfs. After the Treaty of Lausanne and the eviction of the Bey landlords, the land was distributed in lots to the existing inhabitants, and to 121 other Greek families from Bulgaria and Asia Minor after population exchange agreements between Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey. The name for the new town was suggested by the then Metropolitan of Veria, who named it after a legendary queen of ancient Beroea (the modern Veria) who had supposedly lived in the vicinity.

The Vergina Sun, Star of Vergina or Argead Star is a symbol of a stylised star or sun with sixteen rays. It was unearthed in 1977 during archaeological excavations in Vergina, in northern Greece, by Professor Manolis Andronikos. He discovered it on a golden larnax in the tombs of the kings of the ancient kingdom of Macedon.

Andronikos described the symbol variously as a "star", a "starburst" or as a "sunburst".^[1] He proposed that the larnax on which it appears belonged to King Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great; other historians have suggested that the tomb actually belonged to the later King Philip III Arrhidaeus.^[2] The larnax is on display at the archaeological museum in Vergina, very close to where it was found. Another version of the Vergina Sun, with 12 rays, was found on the larnax of Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great.