A decades-long vision, the new, multi-faceted, central building of the Polycentric Museum of Aigai was inaugurated yesterday by Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni.

The museum is a new, holistic, and dynamic approach to the relationship between archaeological site, museum, and visitor. It integrates and unites the new central building with the whole of the archaeological site of Aigai (Vergina), which includes the Palace of Philip, the burial cluster of the Temenids, as well as the Museum of the Royal Tombs.

The Palace of Aigai, known today as Vergina, is considered not only the largest but, together with the Parthenon, the most important building of classical Greece.

The central museum building was designed to become the symbolic entrance gate to the archaeological site and the history of the Aigai, the history and culture of the Macedonians, but also the Hellenistic World, since this will host the physical headquarters of the digital museum "Alexander the Great, from Aigai to the Ecumene (World)".

In the case of Aigai, the planning of the projects had from the beginning the aim of the systematic and universal restoration and highlighting of the particularly extensive archaeological site so that it could develop into a huge archaeological park with modern and high-level infrastructure and services that will offer visitors full, unified, and comprehensive knowledge and experience of the history of the city of Aigai, its kings, and wider Macedonia.

The royal tombs are presented within a grass covered mound, mimicking the original burial tumulus

The main phase of redevelopment and enhancement of the area of the Palace and the Necropolis, an area of almost 550 acres, has already been completed, which, in the summer of 2021, opened to the public as a visitable tree-planted area for archaeological and naturalistic tours.

The large atrium will host the exhibition of architectural members from the palace.

The Polycentric Museum of Aigai currently comprises the following sections:

The main museum building: The project was joined in 2010 and the construction of the shell was completed in 2016. Between the years 2014-2016 the demolition/restoration of the upper floor of the propylon and part of the side arcades of the palace presented in the large atrium of the museum was completed.
The Museum of the Royal Tombs with the tomb of Philip II.
The archaeological park of the necropolis with the royal burial cluster of the Temenids.
The palace and the theater.
The recorded church of Agios Dimitrios located at the eastern end of the archaeological site.
Any monuments, clusters of monuments or parts of the archaeological site that are maintained, organized and can receive visitors can be successively added to this set.

The main building of the museum, apart from the introductory exhibit "A Window into the World of Alexander the Great"” hosts five exhibitions:

The exhibition of architectural members with the restored part of the palace as a central exhibit: In the large atrium of the museum, in a protected area, a 30-meter-long section of the upper floor of the central part of the facade of the Palace of Aigai has been restored.
The exhibition of sculptures, which concerns findings from long-term excavations at the wider archaeological site of Aigai,.
The central exhibition "Memory of Aigai"” in which findings from the excavations of Aigai are exhibited, presents findings that reveal the identity of the city, traces of religious ceremonies, and the foundation of the palace.
The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World," held in collaboration with the Numismatic Museum and the collector Theodoros Aravanis: The periodical exhibition "Antidoron of the World" tries to approach the phenomenon of the Hellenistic World, the expansion of Greek civilization to the Far East, through the forms of the protagonists of developments, as depicted on coins, the official symbols of their power and authority.
The art exhibition "Material Memory" features works by the painter Christos Bokorou that were created especially for the presentation in the museum of Aigai.