Idomenae


Idomenae or Idomenai, also known as Idomene, or Eidomenae or Eidomenai, or Idomenia, was a town of ancient Macedonia which the Tabular Itinerary places at 12 M. P. from Stena. Sitalces, on his route from Thrace to Macedonia, crossed Mount Cercine, leaving the Paeones on his right, and the Sinti and Maedi on his left, and descended upon the Axius at Idomenae. It is included by Ptolemy in Emathia, and was near Doberus, next to which it is named by Hierocles among the towns of Consular Macedonia under the Byzantine Empire. Idomenae is documented from the 5th century BCE.
It is now an archaeological site located near the village of Marvinci, near Valandovo, modern North Macedonia.

Archaeology

At its beginning, Idomenae was about 5,000 km2 big. An acropolis with defensive walls was built, a pottery building was also built, and so were other buildings. The people in this town traded a lot with the Asia Minor, which is evidenced by the facts that much of the material found on pottery here was used in graves in Asia Minor. There are also many amphoras from the islands of Thassos and Rhodes.