Dion (; ; ) is a village and municipal unit in the municipality of

Dion-Olympos Dion-Olympos (, ''Díon-Ólympos'') is a municipality in the Pieria regional unit, Central Macedonia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Litochoro. The municipality has an area of 495.314 km2. Municipality The municipality Dion-Oly ...

in the Pieria regional unit,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is located at the foot of

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

at a distance of 17 km from the capital city of

Katerini Katerini (, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Regional Unit of Piera in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mount Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude ...

. The seat of the municipal unit was in Kondariotissa. It is best known for its great ancient Macedonian sanctuary of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and the ancient city, much of which is visible in the

Archaeological Park of Dion The Archaeological Park of Dion is the most important archaeological site at Mount Olympus in Greece, located in Dion, Pieria, Dion (Greek: Δίον). In the area comprised by the Archaeological Park of Dion, sanctuaries were found from the Helle ...

and the

Archaeological Museum of Dion The Archaeological Museum of Dion () is a museum in Dion in the Pieria regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece. The museum was established in 1983 to display excavations unearthed in the area from a fortified city that once stood in its pl ...

History

The ancient city owes its name to the most important Macedonian sanctuary dedicated to Zeus (''Dios'', "of Zeus"), leader of the gods who dwelt on Mount Olympus; as recorded by

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

's ''

Catalogue of Women The ''Catalogue of Women'' ()—also known as the ''Ehoiai '' (, )The Latin transliterations ''Eoeae'' and ''Ehoeae'' are also used (e.g. , ); see Catalogue of Women#Title and the ē' hoiē-formula, Title and the ''ē' hoiē''-formula, below. Th ...

'',

Thyia Thyia may refer to: * Thyia (mythology) * Thyia (naiad) * Thyia of Thessaly * Thyia (Phocis) {{dab ...

, daughter of

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; ) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene (mythology), Clymene, Hesione (Oceanid), Hesione, or Pronoia (mythology), Pronoia.A Scholia, scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (=''Catalogue of W ...

, bore Zeus two sons, Magnes and

Makednos In Greek mythology, Makedon, also Macedon () or Makednos (), was the eponymous ancestor of the ancient Macedonians according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives. In most versions, he appears as a native or immigrant leader from Epirus ...

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

s of

Magnetes The Magnetes (Greek: ) were an ancient Greek tribe. In book 2 of the ''Iliad'', Homer includes them in the Greek Army that is besieging Troy, and identifies their homeland in Thessaly, in a part that is still known as Magnesia. Later, they partici ...

and Macedonians, who dwelt in Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus. Hence from very ancient times, a large altar had been set up for the worship of Olympian Zeus and his daughters, the Muses, in a unique environment characterised by rich vegetation, towering trees, countless springs and a navigable river. For this reason Dion was the "sacred place" of the

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians (, ) were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Essentially an Ancient Greece, ancient ...

. It was the place where the kings made splendid sacrifices to celebrate the new year of the Macedonian calendar at the end of September. In the Spring, purification rites of the army and victory feasts were held. The first mention of Dion in history comes from

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

, who reports that it was the first city reached by the

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

n general

Brasidas Brasidas (, died 422 BC) was the most distinguished Spartan officer during the first decade of the Peloponnesian War. He died during the Second Battle of Amphipolis while winning one of his most spectacular victories. Biography Brasidas was ...

after crossing from

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

into

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

on his way through the realm of his ally

Perdiccas II Perdiccas II () was the king of Macedonia from 454 BC until his death in 413 BC. During the Peloponnesian War, he frequently switched sides between Sparta and Athens. Biography Family Perdiccas II was the oldest son of Alexander I. He had f ...

during his expedition against the Athenian colonies of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

in 424 BC. According to

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

, it was Archelaus I who, at the end of the 5th century BC when the Macedonian state acquired great power and emerged onto the stage of history, gave the city and its sanctuary their subsequent importance by instituting a nine-day festival of games that included athletic and dramatic competitions in honor of Zeus and the

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

s, whose organisation was overseen by the Macedonian kings themselves. Philip II and

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

celebrated victories here, and Alexander assembled his armies and performed magnificent sacrifices here on the eve of his campaign to Asia in 334 BC. Many ancient authors speak of the sculptural bronze masterpiece by

Lysippos Lysippos (; ) was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Problems confron ...

made for Alexander depicting 25 mounted companions who fell at the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydos (Hellespont ...

and later taken to Rome by Metellus. A city was built adjacent to the sacred sites that acquired monumental form during the reigns of Alexander the Great's successors and

Cassander Cassander (; ; 355 BC – 297 BC) was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC, and '' de facto'' ruler of southern Greece from 317 BC until his death. A son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the ...

took a great interest in the city erecting strong walls and public buildings, so that in Hellenistic times Dion was renowned far and wide for its fortification and splendid monuments. Dion and its sanctuary was destroyed during the Social War in 219 BC by Aetolian invaders but was immediately rebuilt by Philip V. Many of the dedications from the sanctuary that had been destroyed were buried in pits, including royal inscriptions and treaties, and these have been discovered recently. It fell to the Romans in 169 BC and the city was given a new lease of life in 32/31 BC when

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

founded the Colony of here. Coins of colonial Dion survive. It experienced its second heyday during the reigns of 2nd- and 3rd-century AD Roman emperors who were fond of Alexander the Great. Dion's final important period was in the 4th and 5th centuries AD when it became the seat of a bishopric. It was abandoned following major earthquakes and floods. The modern village at the site was called ''Malathria'' until 1961, when it was renamed to ''Dion''.

Archaeology

The site of ancient Dion was first identified by the English traveler

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

on December 2, 1806, in the ruins adjoining the village of Malathria. He published his discovery in the third volume of his '' Travels in Northern Greece'' in 1835. Léon Heuzey visited the site during his famous Macedonian archaeological mission of 1855 and again in 1861 when he also detected the ancient

Leivithra Leibethra or Libethra, in the modern pronunciation Leivithra (), was an ancient Macedonian city at the foot of Mount Olympus, near the present settlement of Skotina. Archaeologists have discovered tombs there from the late Bronze Age (13th–12t ...

. Later, the

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

G. Oikonomos published the first series of inscriptions. Nevertheless, systematic archaeological exploration did not begin until 1928. From then until 1931, G. Sotiriadis carried out a series of surveys, uncovering a 4th-century BC Macedonian tomb and an early Christian basilica. Excavations were not resumed until 1960 under the direction of G. Bakalakis in the area of the theatre and the wall. Since 1973, Professor

Dimitrios Pandermalis Dimitrios Pandermalis (; 1940 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek archaeologist. He was professor of archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, supervisor of the Archaeological site of Dion, Pieria and curator of the new Acropolis ...

of the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

has conducted archaeological research in the city. Dion is the site of a large temple dedicated to Zeus, as well as a series of temples to Demeter and to Isis (the Egyptian goddess was a favorite of

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

). Excavation of the magnificent House of Dionysos revealed a mosaic of exceptionally fine quality. Dion House of Dionysos Mosaic

A rare and unusual find in the museum is a bronze "hydraulis" or hydraulic musical pipe organ found in a former workshop. Dion hydraulis

In 2006, a statue of

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

was found built into the walls of the city. The statue, 2200 years old, had been used by the early Christians of Dion as filling for the city's defensive wall.Kantouris, Costas.
Greek archaeologists find Hera statue
''Associated Press''. March 1, 2007.

Administration

In October 1992, the Municipality of Dion (, ) was formed. At the 1997

Kapodistrias reform Kapodistrias reform (, "Kapodistrias Plan") is the common name of law 2539 of Greece, which reorganised the country's administrative divisions. The law, named after 19th-century Greek statesman (Ioannis Kapodistrias), passed the Hellenic Parliamen ...

, it was expanded with the former communities Agios Spyridonas, Karitsa, Kondariotissa, Nea Efesos and Vrontou. The administrative center was in the village of Kondariotissa. As part of Greece's 2011 local government reform Dion merged with the former municipalities

East Olympos East Olympos, or Anatolikos Olympos (, '','' ), is a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, Greece. In Greece's 2011 local government reform East Olympos became a municipal unit of the municipality Dion-Olympos. The municipal unit has an ar ...

and

Litochoro Litochoro (, ''Litóchoro''; Katharevousa: Λιτόχωρον) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria (regional unit), Pieria regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government re ...

to form the new municipality

. Dion became a municipal unit of the newly formed

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

, and the former municipal districts became communities. The community of Dion consists of the village of the same name and Platanakia. The municipal unit has an area of , the community .

Historical population

Gallery

File:Dion archeological site7.jpg, View of the archeological site File:Ruins in Dion.jpg, Ruins at the archaeological site image:Dion archaeological site 111.jpg, Ancient column File:Dion Site1.jpg, Sanctuary of Isis File:Marble_cult_statue_of_Aphrodite_Hypolympidia,_from_the_santuary_of_Isis,_2nd_c._BC,_Archaeological_Museum,_Dion_(7079958443).jpg, Aphrodite Hypolympidia statue. File:View of the archeological site of Dion.jpg, View of the villa of Dionysus containing the large Dionysus mosaic File:Demeter sanctuary, Dion, Pieria, Greece.jpg, Sanctuary of Demeter File:The sacred spring with the sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos in the background, Ancient Dion (7079652753).jpg, The sacred spring with the sanctuary of Zeus Hypsistos in the background File:Sanctuary of Isis, Ancient Dion (7080294715).jpg, Sanctuary of Isis File:The four-columned temple dedicated to Isis Lochia, Sanctuary of Isis, Ancient Dion (6934122740).jpg, Four-columned temple dedicated to Isis Lochia, Sanctuary of Isis File:The Hellenistic Theatre, Ancient Dion (6930195434).jpg, View of the Hellenistic theater File:Dion archaeological site 112.jpg, Baths of ancient Dion File:Eastern latrine, the public toilets along the central road, the Greath Baths complex, Ancient Dion (6948376030).jpg, Public toilets along the central road File:Dion Mosaic2.jpg, Mosaic floor in the Great Baths complex File:Dion Mosaic3.jpg, Detail of a mosaic floor, Great Baths complex File:The hypocaust of the Great Baths complex, Ancient Dion (7094483903).jpg, The hypocaust of the Great Baths complex File:Wall Shields on Dion.jpg, Shields dedicated by

on his victory over the Persians at the Granicus river File:Dion Mosaic6.jpg, Large mosaic at the

File:Inscription from Dion.jpg, Inscription from the

reading "ΒΑΣΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ"

ing Philip Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

References

Notes

* F. Papazoglou, ''Les villes de Macédoine romaine'', ''Supplément'' 18 du ''BCH'', Paris, 1988. * D. Pandermalis, ''Dion, the archaeological site and the museum'', Athens, 1997.

External links

Municipality of Dion websiteOfficial website of the archaeological park of DionImages from the archaeological site
{{Authority control Dion-Olympos Populated places in Pieria (regional unit) Populated places established in the 5th century BC Populated places disestablished in the 5th century 1806 archaeological discoveries Geography of ancient Pieria Culture of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Argead colonies in Macedonia Archelaus of Macedon Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Pieria Coloniae (Roman) Mount Olympus Holy cities Cities in ancient Macedonia