Macedonia

Temperatures will plummet from Saturday along the northern and mountainous regions of the country, the National Meteorological Service (EMY) has said.

The weekend cold front will be accompanied by stormy northerly gales in the Aegean, reaching force eight or nine, with significant rainfall expected along coastal areas.

The partly restored Palace of Aigai, in northern Greece, was much more than the palace where Philip II of Macedon resided and where his son, Alexander, was proclaimed king in 336 BC before embarking on his now legendary conquests. It was a public place, where up to 8,000 people could gather in the colonnade, says Angeliki Kottaridi, the now retired archaeologist who led the restoration effort.

Greek authorities have issued a European arrest warrant and an extradition request for a 33-year-old man from North Macedonia believed to be involved in the killing of a 39-year-old compatriot in Halkidiki in July last year. 

It was the largest building of classical Greece: The palace where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king before he launched a conquest that took him as far as modern-day Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis inaugurated the recently restored Palace of Aigai in northern Greece on Friday.

With an area of approximately 15,000 square meters, it was the largest building in classical Greece.

The project to maintain and restore the Palace of the Aigai lasted 16 years and was completed in 2023 with a total budget of 20.3 million euros.

It was the largest building of classical Greece: the palace where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king before he launched a conquest that took him as far as modern-day Afghanistan.

The Palace of Aigai in northern Greece was fully reopened Friday following a 16-year renovation that cost more than 20 million euros and included financial support from the European Union.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (third from left) stressed on Friday that the Palace of Aigai in northern Greece is testimony to the "timeless Greek identity of Macedonia through the ages." Attending the inauguration of the recently restored Palace of Aigai, Mitsotakis noted the "great honor" he feels as prime minister to associate his name and that of his government with the emblematic rest

Alexander the Great was proclaimed king there & the same columns that the visitor sees today “heard” the Macedonians soldiers rhythmically calling out his name

Last December was unusually warm in Greece, while in almost half of the country it was the hottest in 15 years. This was the case in Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace, Crete and the Aegean islands, while overall, at the national level, the heat was at "extremely high levels" compared with the 2010-2019 average, Meteo.gr reported.

A 42-year-old man was arrested in the town of Florina, northern Greece on drug-related charges on Wednesday. 

The arrest followed a coordinated operation, as the suspect was wanted under a European arrest warrant. 

The apprehended individual was brought before the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeals of Western Macedonia.