Ancient Fortress Found in the Heart of Greece’s Pindus Mountains

The past fortress was unearthed adjacent the colony of Philippaioi, Grevena. Credit: Philippaioi Archaeological Program

An past fortress and settlement, situated astatine an altitude of 1,150 meters (3,770 ft) successful the bosom of the Pindus Mountains, has been systematically documented and mapped during the archetypal probe rhythm of the Philippaioi Archaeological Program (Phili.P).

The programme is simply a collaboration betwixt the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Grevena (Ministry of Culture), directed by Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology, Nikolaos Dimakis.

Initial findings astatine the past fortress of Pindus

Archaiologia.gr reports that tract probe conducted successful September 2025 focused connected an country adjacent the colony of Philippaioi, Grevena, characterized by dense wood screen and challenging terrain.

Using a operation of precocious methods—including LiDAR, geophysical surveys, extended aboveground investigation, and trial trenches—the squad documented a fortified country spanning astir 90 stremma (about 22 acres). The analyzable is built connected successive terraces and surrounded by imposing walls.

Key discoveries from this signifier include:

• Defensive Architecture: Well-preserved sections of the fortification walls, built with expertly crafted dry-stone masonry, measurement 1.20–1.80 meters (4–6 ft) successful width and up to 2.5 meters (8 ft) successful height. Their signifier is diagnostic of a determination “koine” (common style) of past wall-building circumstantial to the mountainous areas of Grevena.
• Burial Sites: Tombs were identified connected plateaus adjacent to the river, indicating the organized and semipermanent usage of the landscape.
• Artifacts: The movable finds chiefly day to the Hellenistic play and see pottery, figurines, coins, loom weights, and metallurgical processing residues. While Hellenistic usage is dominant, the grounds does not regularisation retired an earlier founding signifier oregon continued usage successful aboriginal periods.

The Grevena portion could go a exemplary for the Archaeology of Mountainous Landscapes. Credit: Philippaioi Archaeological Program

The probe squad comprised 20 undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral students from Greece and planetary universities (including the United States, Belgium, and Germany).

Specialists from NKUA’s Departments of History and Archaeology, Biology, and Geology provided indispensable contributions to the documentation, analysis, and interdisciplinary mentation of the finds.

The Phili.P programme is already yielding world results, with 3 doctoral dissertations and 2 master’s theses straight linked to the research.

The task is the effect of a taste improvement statement (2025–2028) betwixt NKUA, the Ministry of Culture, and the Region of Western Macedonia (Grevena Regional Unit).

The well-preserved sections of the fortification walls are built with expertly crafted dry-stone masonry. Credit: Philippaioi Archaeological Program

Future goals

The 2026 play is scheduled to see extended geophysical surveys, luminescence analyses, coring, and further trial trenches. These efforts purpose to afloat recognize the morphology and improvement of some the fortified elevation and the riverside plateau.

The broader objectives of Phili.P are to enrich cognition of the humanities topography and the societal and governmental structures of past Western Macedonia.

Furthermore, the programme seeks to found the Grevena portion arsenic a exemplary for the Archaeology of Mountainous Landscapes, strengthening the transportation betwixt world probe and section communities, and contributing to the sustainable promotion of the region’s taste heritage.