The Archaeological Museum of Serres () is located in the old centre of

Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...

, a city in

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It is housed in the city's Ottoman-era ''

bedesten A bedesten (variants: bezistan, bezisten, bedestan) is a type of covered market or market hall which was historically found in the cities of the Ottoman Empire. It was typically the central building of the commercial district of an Ottoman town or ...

'' (Μπεζεστένι) a fifteenth-century building in Eleftherias Square.

Building

The ''bedesten'' is an enclosed and covered market. The Serres ''bedesten'' was built by Çandarlı Ibrahim Pasha the Younger around 1493/94. According to the historian of Ottoman art

Semavi Eyice Mustafa Semavi Eyice (9 December 1922 in Istanbul, Turkey – 28 May 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey) was a Turkish art historian and archaeologist, who specialised in the study of Byzantine and Ottoman art in Istanbul. Professor Eyice is widely re ...

, the Serres ''bedesten'' is among the most remarkable specimens of the building type for its excellent construction technique and its striking exterior. It is a rectangular single-storey structure with dimensions , divided into six sections by arches, each section topped by a dome, covered by tiles instead of lead.

Exhibits

The building now functions as an archaeological museum. More specifically, there are prehistoric exhibits from the excavations at

Promachonas Promachonas ( el, Προμαχώνας, bg, Драготин, ) is a village and a former community in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sintiki, of which it is a municipal un ...

and Kryoneri, Archaic, Classical,

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

exhibits (mainly ceramics, statues, and inscriptions) from

Argilos Argilos ( el, Άργιλος) is a municipal department of the city of Kozani in northern Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Ba ...

, Vergi, Terpni, Neos Skopos,

Gazoros Gazoros or Gazorus (Greek: ) was a town mentioned by Ptolemy to be in the region of Edonis or Odomantike and also by inscriptions of Hellenistic and Roman times. Later in the 4th century BC, it was annexed to the Macedonian kingdom and made a pol ...

, ancient

Tragilos Tragilos ( el, Τράγιλος, ) is a village and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern ...

, and

. Particularly important are the Early Christian and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

exhibits from the town of Serres, most notably a marble icon of Christ and a twelfth-century mosaic of St Andrew the Apostle, both from the Old Cathedral.

File:Macedonian_Museums-22-Arx_Serrvn-107.jpg, Andrew the Apostle File:Macedonian_Museums-22-Arx_Serrvn-108.jpg, Exhibits from

Bisaltia Bisaltia ( el, Βισαλτία) or Bisaltica was an ancient country which was bordered by Sintice on the north, Crestonia on the west, Mygdonia on the south and was separated by Odomantis on the north-east and Edonis on the south-east by river ...

region File:Macedonian_Museums-22-Arx_Serrvn-109.jpg, Marble icon of Christ File:Macedonian_Museums-22-Arx_Serrvn-110.jpg, Statue of a woman

References

{{coord, 41.0906, 23.5496, type:landmark_region:GR, display=title

Museums in Serres