Greece’s reputation as the cradle of Western civilization got a new boost recently after archaeologists unearthed a lost city believed to be about 2,500 years old. The remains of this previously unexplored settlement, including parts of ancient towers, city gates, and walls, were spotted scattered throughout Vlochos, a village in central Greece located approximately 300km north of Athens.
The lost city was discovered by a group of researchers from the University of Gothenburg and the University of Bournemouth. Some of the ruins were already known, but they had been largely dismissed as a mere part of some irrelevant settlement atop a hill in and around today’s Vlochos.
“A colleague and I came across the site in connection with another project last year, and we realized the great potential right away,” Robin Ronnlund, the archaeologist leading the exploration, said, as reported by The Independent.
“The fact that nobody has ever explored the hill before is a mystery.”
The research team that also includes archeologists from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Karditsa found most of the remains of the ancient city on the slopes and summits of a hill in the region. Following the first couple of weeks in September, the researchers also found coins and an ancient pottery dating back to at approximately 500 BC. They now hope to explore further using ground-penetrating radar and avoid excavation so the site remains in the same condition as when they first discovered it.
“Very little is known about ancient cities in the region, and many researchers have previously believed that western Thessaly was somewhat of a backwater during Antiquity,” Ronnulnd said, adding, “Our project therefore fills an important gap in the knowledge about the area and shows that a lot remains to be discovered in the Greek soil.”