A fascinating Macedonia Tomb of Makridi Bey dated between the late 4th and early 3rd century BC has been restored and opened to the public in Thessaloniki. The tomb is representative of the massive wealth that poured into Macedonia after Alexander the Great’s conquests eastward.
Visitors to this magnificent tomb are greeted by the monumental Ionic facade and a marble sarcophagus in its death chamber. Reconstructed with the help of an interdisciplinary team that conducted the research for rebuilding and securing of the partially underground structure, the tomb is now illuminated at night as well. The team (comprising Venetia Malama, Maria Miza, Maria Sarantidou and Alexis Papasotirou) also restored the road that led up to the tomb, its Ionic facade and the original colors of the plaster that adorned its walls and arches.
10 meters in length and 8 meters in height, the tomb is further evidence of the importance and strategic significance of the city of Lete, which was inhabited from early Neolithic (5,600–5,300 BC) to Roman times. The double-chambered barrel-vaulted tomb is one of the greatest discoveries in the area, but lay almost completely abandoned for over a century.