Pella

Pella was an ancient city in Central Macedonia, Greece, founded in the early 4th century BC by Archelaus I as the new capital of the Kingdom of Macedon, replacing the earlier palace city of Aigai. It became the largest and richest city in Macedonia, particularly under Cassander and Antigonus II, and was the birthplace of Philip II in 382 BC and his son Alexander the Great in 356 BC; built on a Hippodamian grid plan with an agora covering seven hectares, it hosted artists such as the painter Zeuxis and the playwright Euripides before its importance shifted to nearby Thessalonica after the Roman conquest of 168 BC, and ongoing excavations since 1957 have revealed elaborate pebble mosaic floors and the Palace of Pella, a 75,000 square meter complex opened to the public in December 2025.