GREECE-ARCHAEOLOGIST-METRO

Recent rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service at the historical centre of Thessaloniki, Greece, for the construction of the underground railway network, revealed significant evidence of the city’s urban life from the 4th–9th centuries: the monumental gate at the crossroads of the marble paved avenue (76 m in length), framed by public buildings, with the road leading to the harbour. These extraordinary finds constitute a unique evidence of the social, commercial, and everyday life in early Byzantine Thessaloniki. A controversy has erupted between archaeologists and city authorities who want a metro station combined with a subterranean museum including all those findings and the company of “Attiko metro” and the government from the other side who say the two cannot exist together.This picture taken on 15 April, 2013, shows an archaeologist who guiding mayors of the city. AFP PHOTO /Sakis Mitrolidis (Photo credit should read SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP via Getty Images)