Pydna (in
Greek ??d?a, older transliteration Púdna), also
Pidna was a Greek city in ancient
Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a rural municipality and coastal town in the northeastern part of the Prefecture of
Pieria. Pydna is situated in fertile land to the north of the
Pierian plain. Hills and mountains dominate the west, while beaches and the
Thermian Gulf dominate the east. Pydna is linked with
GR-1/
E75 through its interchange to its west and in Kitros. The old highway ran through Pydna. It is located N of
Larissa, NE of
Katerini, ESE of
Veria and WSW of
Thessaloniki.
Pydna was founded by Euboeans in early 7th century BC. Alexander I took the city (Thucydides I.131.1), but later Pydna regained its independence. It was besieged by the Athenians in 432 BC. Pydna was brought back under Macedonian rule in 410 BC by Archelaus, who reestablished the city twenty stadia further inland (Diodorus of Sicily 13.14). The Athenians seized Pydna in 364 BC, only to have it retaken eight years later by Philip II of Macedon, in spite of a secret agreement that bound it to Athens. Pydna was raided by Alexander the Great on his march on Persia. All 5 treasuries were looted and burned. Cassander besieged and captured Pydna in 317 BC and had the queen mother, Olympias, who had taken refuge there, put to death.
The Battle of Pydna (June 22, 168 BC), in which the Roman general Aemilius Paulus defeated King Perseus, ended the reign of the Antigonid dynasty over Macedon.
The site of the city is disputed but may correspond, according to epigraphic evidence agreeing with Byzantine tradition, to the village of Kitros rather than to Alonia.
