An international team of experts has discovered a mysterious “lost city” in central Greece that could offer new clues to the region’s history.
Archaeologists from Greece, Sweden and the UK are involved in the research project at a village called Vlochós, about five hours north of Athens in the ancient region of Thessaly. The archaeological remains were found scattered across a hill near the village, according to a press release.
Remains of towers, walls and city gates can be found on the summit and slopes, but hardly anything is visible on the ground below. The ambition is to avoid excavation and instead use methods such as ground-penetrating radar, which will enable the team to leave the site in the same shape as it was in when they arrived. The success of this approach is evident from the results of the first field season:
‘We found a town square and a street grid that indicate that we are dealing with quite a large city. The area inside the city wall measures over 40 hectares. We also found ancient pottery and coins that can help to date the city. Our oldest finds are from around 500 BC, but the city seems to have flourished mainly from the fourth to the third century BC before it was abandoned for some reason, maybe in connection with the Roman conquest of the area.