Toumba (Thessaloniki)

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This article is about a district of Thessaloniki. For other uses, see Toumba (disambiguation).

Toumba is a quarter of east side Thessaloniki, Greece. It is divided into Ano Toumba and Kato Toumba (Upper and Lower Toumba) by a flume, and it is part of 4th Division of Thessaloniki Municipality.

In archaeology the term Toumba stands for mounds covering Bronze and early Iron Age settlements. They were considered as Grave hills, hence the name that derived from the word Tomb, but excavations showed that they are tells. The mound that rises in the area gave the neighbourhood its name.

The archaeological site

Excavation site

The archaeological site consists of a) of a steep-sided mound or tell ('Toumba' in Modern Greek) and b) a low table (Trapeza[1]) spreading around its base. Both toumba and table are the product of centuries of human habitation as debris layers built up with the passage of time. The Toumba was occupied principally during the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (3000-700 BC, while the Table was occupied from the Early Iron Age through the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods (c 800-200 BC). This community might be identified as Ancient Therma or part of it. Therma, along with 25 other villages, was united by Cassander, in order to form Thessaloniki in 315 BC (Stravon VII 21 & 24).

The excavations are still in progress, conducted by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (on the Toumba)[2] and the Greek Archaeological Service (on the Table). Both excavations have made and continue to make important contributions to understanding the nature of human activity in the prehistoric and early historic periods in Central Macedonia and the Thermaic Gulf.

PAOK Football Stadium

The Toumba neighborhood hosts the home stadium of PAOK FC, which bears the same name, Toumba Stadium.

References

  1. ↑ cf Tiverios, M. 1996. “Επτά χρόνια (1990–1996) αρχαιολογικών ερευνών στη διπλή τράπεζα Αγχιάλου-Σίνδου. Ο αρχαίος οικισμός”. AEMT 10 A: 407–425.
  2. ↑ K. Kotsakis & S. Andreou 1999. “Mycenaean presence? Mycenaean periphery?; Toumba Thessalonikis, Bronze Age site in Macedonia” The periphery of the Mycenaean World (in Greek). Lamia.

External links

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