Underground Thessalonica
Metro excavations reveal hidden treasures of Paul's city
Excavations at the Venizelou Metro station in Thessaloniki, which revealed the intersection of the ancient city’s two main thoroughfares, the cardo and the decumanus. Photo courtesy Mark Wilson.
Visitors to the archaeologically rich city of Thessaloniki, Greece, have a new archaeological treat in store for them. With the opening of the city’s Metro line in December 2024, the excavations conducted during its construction can now be seen by the public. This opening was delayed more than a decade for one reason—archaeology. Bible History Daily even featured one of the discoveries—a golden olive wreath—back in 2013.
During the excavations, the project’s lead archaeologist, Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, has often lectured about the ongoing discoveries. She especially notes four Metro stations—Venizelou, Sintrivani, Agias Sofias, and Dimokratias—with archaeological remains. During one of my recent visits to Thessaloniki while leading a tour group, I decided to explore each station’s archaeology. Here’s what I found.
Map of the Thessaloniki Metro system, including the four stations where archaeological remains were uncovered and preserved for visitors. Image courtesy Mark Wilson.
Since the Venizelou station was closest to my hotel, I walked there first. The Metro line was built below the current Egnatia Street that runs east to west through the city. It is little wonder then that a large section of the ancient decumanus maximus is featured at this open-air museum accessed via glass walkways. Although dating from the Byzantine period, the pavement runs atop an earlier street from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Here, it connected with the north-south cardo maximus, the street that brought pedestrians near the agora to the north (Acts 17:5–9). At this main intersection (see image above), archaeologists found the remains of public buildings, both commercial and recreational, dating to the city’s founding by the Macedonian king Cassander in 316/15 BCE.
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Here, as in the other stations, panels in Greek and English provide information about the excavations. QR codes allow visitors to access additional descriptions. Videos shown on large-screen televisions likewise document each excavation and feature some of the key discoveries there. The Metro museum at Venizelou is free to visitors, so the next day I brought my group to see the excavations. Afterwards, we hiked to the agora and Saint Demetrios Church, making for a walkable tour in this part of the city.
A selection of decorated ossuaries discovered at the city’s ancient necropolis and now on display in Sintrivani Metro station. Photo courtesy Mark Wilson.
The Metro lies beneath the level of the decumanus, so I descended the escalator and bought a ticket for 60 cents euro. This allowed me to travel for 70 minutes. I first rode to the Sintrivani station just outside the eastern city walls. There, a necropolis was excavated that dated from the fourth century BCE and continued in use into the Christian period. Since cemeteries were typically constructed along main roads outside a city, such a discovery was predictable. Glass cases in the station display several decorated ossuaries found in the eastern necropolis.
Pottery and stratigraphy display from Agias Sofias station. Photo courtesy Mark Wilson.
Scanning my Metro ticket again, I descended the escalator to travel to the Agias Sofias station in the heart of the city. There, part of the Hellenistic city with its Hippodamian grid plan was discovered. Also, another section of the decumanus was exposed. A glassed wall display features pottery from each stratigraphic level from the Hellenistic to modern periods. The different levels showing the archaeological trench that was excavated here are also printed on the wall along the staircase exiting the station.
Byzantine-era colonnaded plaza and nymphaeum excavated outside Agias Sofias station. Photo courtesy Mark Wilson.
Outside, at the north entrance to Agias Sofias, visitors can look down at the excavated remains of a semicircular marble-paved plaza with a colonnaded arcade. This sixth-century complex has incorporated a nymphaeum (display fountain) that dates to the late fourth century. Again, the ruins are well explained with descriptions, site plans, and diagrams. At the south entrance, two columns of Thessalian marble have been reerected on a stone stylobate. These were once part of a marble-paved circular square dating from the sixth century.
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Still within my 70-minute limit, I reboarded the train for Dimokratias. This station is found outside of where the Golden Gate once stood. Over this gate for centuries was one of the famous politarch inscriptions, the civic officials mentioned in Acts 17:6, 8. Today, that inscription is found in the British Museum. Paul, Silas, and Timothy also made their nocturnal escape through this gate when they fled Thessalonica (Acts 17:10). There, they connected with the Via Egnatia, the famous Roman road that ran outside the city’s western wall and then took travelers from Thessalonica to points westward.
Gaza-style amphorae from the Byzantine-period storehouses discovered at Dimokratias station. Photo courtesy Mark Wilson.
Excavations at Dimokratias uncovered the western necropolis, which contained various burial structures, altars, and marble sarcophagi. One inscribed sarcophagus is on display. The cemetery remained in use through the Hellenistic, Roman, and early Christian periods. Large warehouses to store wine and olive oil, along with workshops, were later built above the necropolis and next to the road. A display features some of the Gaza-type amphorae found stacked on a bench in one of these facilities.
Experiencing Thessaloniki’s rich archaeological heritage is no longer complete without a visit to the Metro excavations, particularly at the Venizelou and Agias Sofias stations. Here, the city’s underground world, some of which Paul saw, is now magnificently revealed and displayed.
Mark Wilson is the founder and director of the Asia Minor Research Center in Antalya, Turkey. He is Professor Extraordinary of New Testament at Stellenbosch University and Research Fellow in Biblical Archaeology at the University of South Africa. He is a frequent contributor to Biblical Archaeology Review and Bible History Daily, and also leads tours to biblical sites throughout the eastern Mediterranean.
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