Manolis Andronikos was born 107 years ago today, on October 23, 1919, in Prusa (modern-day Bursa) in Asia Minor. He went...

Manolis Andronikos was born 107 years ago today, on October 23, 1919, in Prusa (modern-day Bursa) in Asia Minor. He went on to become one of the most consequential archaeologists of the 20th century, spending decades excavating sites across Macedonia before making a discovery that stopped the scholarly world cold. On November 8, 1977, Andronikos and his team broke through at Vergina in northern Greece and found what he described in his own words as something almost unreal. The tomb was sealed, unlooted, and intact, something extraordinarily rare for a Macedonian royal burial site. Inside was a gold larnax, believed to contain the bones of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, who ruled from 359 to 336 BC. Andronikos officially announced the discovery on November 24, 1977, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in front of government officials, journalists, and the scientific community. He later recalled holding the gold casket and feeling an excitement he said he had never experienced before and never would again. The identity of the tomb's occupant remains academically debated to this day, though Andronikos was convinced it was Philip II. A full professor of Classical Archaeology at AUTh from 1952, Andronikos had conducted fieldwork across Veroia, Naoussa, Kilkis, Chalkidiki, and Thessaloniki over his career. The tomb's treasures, including significant artworks, are now on display at the Great Tumulus site in Vergina. The ERT archive holds unpublished photographs of the discovery taken by AP photojournalist Aristotelis Sarrikostas. Andronikos died on March 30, 1992, the same year he received the Grand Phoenix Cross, Greece's highest civilian honor. #Vergina #Macedonia #GreekHistory