Pydna is also a rocket station of the American Army in Germany, see Pydna (rocket station)

Pydna (in Greek: Πύδνα, older transliteration: Púdna), also Pidna was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a city and a municipality in the northeastern part of the prefecture of Pieria. Pydna is situated in a fertile land and is north of the . The hills and mountains dominates the west while beaches and the Thermian Gulf dominates the east. Pydna is linked with GR-1/E75 with its interchange to its west and in Kitros. The old highway ran through Pydna. Pydna is located N of Larissa, NE of Katerini, ESE of Veria and WSW of Thessaloniki.

Nearest places

• , north
• Korinos, southwest

Ancient Pydna

Pydna was already subject to Macedon under Alexander I (Thucydides I.131.1), but later regained its independence. It was besieged by the Athenians in 432 BC. Pydna was brought back under Macedonian rule in 410 BC by Archelaus, who reestablished the city twenty stadia further inland (Diodorus of Sicily 13.14). The Athenians seized Pydna in 364 BC, only to have it retaken eight years later by Philip II of Macedon, in spite of a secret agreement that bound it to Athens. Cassander besieged and captured Pydna in 317 BC and had the queen mother, Olympias, who had taken refuge there, put to death.

The Battle of Pydna (June 22, 168 BC), in which the Roman general Aemilius Paulus defeated King Perseus, ended the reign of the Antigonid dynasty over Macedon.

The site of the city is disputed but may correspond, according to epigraphic evidence agreeing with Byzantine tradition, to the village of rather than to .

Pydna is the location of a Macedonian tomb discovered and explored by during his famous archaeological expedition in 1867.

Modern Pydna

Pydna today is a town that is located near the archaeological site.

Other

Pydna has schools, a few lyceums, a gymnasium, banks, a post office, beaches located to the east, and a few squares (plateies).

Historical population

References

• , , (Archaeological Mission in Macedonia), Paris, 1876, 239-266.
• , RE s. v. "Pydna", Suppl. X (1965), 833-842.

External links

• Livius, Pydna by Jona Lendering (ancient history of Pydna)
• Ancient Pydna
• http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0840609.html
• Mapquest - Pydna, street map not yet available
• Coordinates: 40°34′39″N, 25°22′19″Ea

See also

• Communities of Pieria