Pydna (in Greek: Πύδνα, older transliteration: Pýdna) was a Greek city in ancient

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...

, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pydna-Kolindros, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 105.059 km², the community 41.334 km². Pydna is situated in fertile land close to the

Thermaic Gulf The Thermaic Gulf (), also called the Gulf of Salonika and the Macedonian Gulf, is a gulf constituting the northwest corner of the Aegean Sea. The city of Thessaloniki is at its northeastern tip, and it is bounded by Pieria Imathia and Lariss ...

coast. The main village of the former municipality is Kitros. It lies 6 km north of

Korinos Korinos ( el, Κορινός) is a town and a former municipality in Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Katerini, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of ...

, 8 km south of Methoni and 13 km northeast of

Katerini Katerini ( el, Κατερίνη, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Pieria regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mt. Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, ...

. Motorway 1 and the Piraeus–Platy railway (nearest station at Korinos) pass east of the village.

Ancient Pydna

Ancient Pydna Pydna is an ancient Greek city in the regional unit of Pieria, Central Macedonia, Greece. It is an important place in the history of Pieria and a major archaeological site located directly at the Aegean Sea, 16 km northeast of Katerini, ...

was already a part of the Macedonian kingdom under

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of A ...

(

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

I.137.1). It was unsuccessfully besieged by the

Athenians Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

in 432 BC and again, after seceding from the Macedonian kingdom, in 410 BC by Archelaus I who successfully captured the city and transferred its population further inland, possibly at the site of modern Kitros; however, the old site was re-populated in the early 4th century. The Athenians, under Timotheus, seized Pydna in 364-363 BC, only to have it retaken in 357 BC by

Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...

. Pydna would remain part of the kingdom of Macedonia until its Roman conquest. In 317 BC, Alexander III's mother,

Olympias Olympias ( grc-gre, Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC) was a Greek princess of the Molossians, and the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip II, the king of Macedoni ...

took refuge there to escape from Cassander's wrath, incurred by Olympias' scheming against Phillip III and his wife. Cassander besieged the city and managed to capture it during the spring of 316 BC. The

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back ...

(June 22, 168 BC), in which the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus (subsequently given the nickname of "Macedonicus") defeated King

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus ( /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer ...

, ended the reign of the

Antigonid dynasty The Antigonid dynasty (; grc-gre, Ἀντιγονίδαι) was a Hellenistic dynasty of Dorian Greek provenance, descended from Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-Eyed") that ruled mainly in Macedonia. History ...

over Macedon. Late in the first millennium of the Christian era Pydna became a bishopric under the name Kitros or Citrus. It is included in the '' Notitia Episcopatuum'' of Leo VI the Wise (866–912). Its bishop Germanus participated in the Photian Council of Constantinople (879). In the aftermath of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

Citrus became a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

diocese, as witnessed by a letter of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

in 1208, which does not give the name of the bishop of the see.Michel Lequien
''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''
Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 79-82 It is now listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 871

Population

References

* Léon Heuzey,

Honoré Daumet Pierre Jérôme Honoré Daumet (23 October 1826, Paris – 12 December 1911, Paris) was a French architect. Biography Daumet was the winner of the Prix de Rome in 1855, and in 1861 conducted a treasure-hunting expedition to Macedonia at the requ ...

, ''Mission archéologique de Macédoine'',

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 1876, 239–266. * R. Danoff, ''RE'' s. v. "Pydna", Suppl. X (1965), 833–842.

External links

Livius
by Jona Lendering (ancient history of Pydna)

The Third Macedonian War and the Battle of Pydna (168 BC)
by John Foss * {{Authority control Populated places in Pieria (regional unit) Titular sees in Europe

Ancient Pydna

Population

See also

References

External links