THE PALACE ENHANCEMENT PROJECT - The Restoration project
In 2017, the project titled “Restoration, conservation and enhancement of Building I and monumental entrance of the palace of ancient Pella – Construction of a new entrance at the eastern side of the hill of the palace and visitors’ itinerary” was approved for funding by the NSRF 2014-2020 Program. The main objectives of the project are: the restoration and protection of the archaeological remains, the organisation of access to the site, the establishment of adequate conditions for smooth and unimpeded movement of any group of visitors around the site, the production of comprehensible information panels and the creation of the adequate visitor infrastructure.
To this end, the project put together studies for the conservation and public presentation of both buildings, the monumental Entrance (Propylon) and Building I, aiming for the best possible protection of and attentiveness to the original construction material and highlighting the specific characteristics of the site and its buildings, like their extraordinary size, their internal structure, the use of consecutive terraces and the invocation of a certain theatricality, a trait which bacame dominant in Hellenistic architecture.
The criteria for the choice of the materials and the procedures employed in the conservation of the buildings followed the generally accepted conservation principles and policies. The project built on previous conservation studies and conservation reports that have been produced for the wider archaeological site of Pella, paying particular attention to the issue of compatibility between the old and the new material and the reversibility of any intervention.
The main objective of the enhancement project for the Monumental Entrance and Building I was to protect the antiquities and make this part of the complex intelligible to visitors, transforming it thus from an excavated area to an archaeological site.
The proposal of the Ephorate was based on the available data for the two buildings and followed five basic principles:
- Making the plan of the Propylon and Building I intelligible to the visitor: there were minor interventions at the level of the foundations of walls not preserved, so as to retrace their lines.
- Restoring the foundation courses with artificial stone blocks (or with original stone blocks, if there were any available).
- Implementing special marking to indicate the original material and utilising 3D casts (columns, other architectural features) exclusively in places where they help delineate an area or contribute to the understanding of the site, provided there is sufficient evidence for their form.
- Preserving as much as possible of the original material in the foundations of the walls. In those cases that the remaining original material was too deep, it was covered with geotextile, gravel and soil and was marked at the level of the topsoil with purpose-built metal boxes filled with aggregate. Alternatively, if there was a specific reason, a wall made of artificial stone blocks would be placed instead of the metal boxes.
- Highlighting the terrace system, a principal trait that offered monumentality and theatricality to the complex, was a major priority of the proposal.
The placement of a copy of Doric column in the peristyle of the courtyard of Building I.
Aerial view of Building I during the restoration. From SE
Aerial view of Building I during the restoration. From NE.
View of Andron (banquet hall) of Building I after the restoration. From E.
View of the south portico (stoa) of Building I after the restoration. From SE
The monumental Entrance after the restoration. View from E.
The monumental Entrance after the restoration. View from SW.
The eastern apse of Building I after the restoration. View from SE.
The southern part of Building I after the restoration. View from the east.
Aerial view of Building Ι during the restoration. From N.
The western stylobate (platform for columns) of the monumental entrance during the excavation. View from W.
The placement of a copy of Doric column in the peristyle of the courtyard of Building I.
Implementation Institutes
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