The ancient Zone of Samothrace
West of Alexandroupolis, is the archeological site of Zone. It was originally identified with another important city of Thrace, Messimvria. For this reason, the area is called Messimvria-Zone. The city developed economically due to its focal point by trading with the Odrysian kingdom, a Thracian tribe. Extensive excavations in the area have unearthed an important city with a fortified enclosure. Within the walls that are reinforced with towers, the city was revealed with wide streets, sewage system, houses in which storage jars, hearths and wells were saved. In some of them, facilities of professional-workshop activity were discovered, such as kilns, metal processing residues and figurine matrices. In the sanctuaries that came to light, Dionysus, Demeter, Apollo, who was also the patron god, were worshiped.
The economic and artistic development of the city is proved by the discovery of Attic and Ionian vessels, amphorae, metalwork and statues of Kouros. The discovery of Thracian vessels testifies to the coexistence with the Thracians. Thousands of coins dating from the 5th c. BC until the 6th c. AD, coming from various cities with the predominant one being from Zone. The coins, after all, were the findings that helped the archeologists identify it with ancient Zone.
A turning point in the development of the city occurred at the end of the 4th c. BC with the domination of the Macedonians who overthrew the Odrysian kingdom while at the same time stopped the development of the Athenians in the area. These events, known from historical sources, are also reflected in the archeological findings in Zone. From the 3rd c. BC until the 5th AD the city was in economic decline.
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