The gold wreath
Laurel leaves in thin gold from a Macedonian tomb.
**Noble tombs of the age of Philip and Alexander โ and the gold is there because Macedonia owned the mines.** โ **The wealth**: in the 4th century BC Macedonia **controlled gold and silver mines** at **Pangaion** near Philippi and across Thrace โ **and those mines financed Philip's army and Alexander's campaigns**. **So the gold was not imported but local and abundant.** โ **The funerary custom**: Macedonian nobles were buried in **vaulted tombs beneath earth mounds** (tumuli) โ **with their weapons, vessels and gold wreaths**, and sometimes with furniture and wall paintings. **The gold wreath** in particular was a marker of status, worked with a precision that imitates real foliage. โ **Why they survived**: **the earth mounds concealed the entrances** โ **so many escaped looting** until modern times; **which is why Macedonian museums are so rich**. โ **The famous example is Vergina** (the tomb of Philip II), โ **but Amphipolis, Abdera and others yielded a great deal too** โ **and that is what you see here**.
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**The museum of eastern Macedonia and Thrace, holding gold from the tombs of Amphipolis and Abdera** โ near the seafront in Kavala. It is the region's museum, **so it gathers what was found across the whole northeast of Greece** rather than in Kavala alone: **Amphipolis**, **Abdera**, **Neapolis** (ancient Kavala) and **mainland Thasos**. โ Its best-known holdings are the **gold**: a **gold wreath** of laurel leaves, jewellery, masks and funerary pieces from Macedonian tombs โ **the same period as Vergina**, but from less famous sites. โ There are also a complete **painted tomb** from Amphipolis, **sculpture** from the Parian temple on Thasos, and **mosaics**. โ The museum is **small and modestly presented** โ not comparable to Thessaloniki. โ But it is air-conditioned, cheap and close by.
Laurel leaves in thin gold from a Macedonian tomb.
A complete tomb from Amphipolis moved with its paintings.
Marble from the Parian temple on the Thracian coast.
Kavala, 65302 Kavala, Greece