Comenius final report

PYDNA On the West Coast of the Thermaic Gulf, one kilometer to the south of Makrigialos you can find the ruins of the Byzantine Castle of the Bishop of Kitros. These ruins, together with the western gate of the Castle (opposite the Church), the foundations of an inn, baths and a small single chamber temple were uncovered during the period 1983 - 1992 whilst the site was being excavated by the Society of Byzantine Antiquities of Thessaloniki. These are the only visible remains left today of Byzantine Pydna, which was renamed Kitros in the 6th or 7th and century and was, until the 14th century, the most important city in medieval Pieria.

The defeat of Perseus, last king of Macedonia, by Lucius Aemilius Paullus at the battle of Pydna (168 BC) ushered in a prolonged Roman occupation. After a period of nominal independence, Macedonia became a Roman province (‘provincia Macedonia’). The new province was attacked by diverse barbarian peoples, became the theatre of Roman civil strife during the period of the Republic, and enjoyed a brief economic recovery -- afforded by the ‘Pax Augusta’ -- which was followed by political vacillations that ended with the accession of Diocletian. The new system of the Tetrarchy, the administrative reorganisation, and the spread and recognition of Christianity, all laid the foundations of a new historical era which was formally expressed in the person of Constantine the Great. Inside the Castle two old Christian Basilicas dating from the 4th and 6th century are located, the last of which was destroyed in the Bulgarian occupation of the fortress, an event which took place from 913 - 924. At the end of the 10th century a large scale Church was built with a dome and cloister, 23.20 m. by 16.60 m., decorated with mosaics, wall paintings and some remarkable sculptures, and this must have been the Cathedral