The ancient trade roads that linked the city of Thessaloniki and Macedonia of the Roman era with the cities of the wider region of the Black Sea have been revealed by the coins found in the archaeological excavations at the under construction stations for the Thessaloniki metro.

During the excavations of the metro stations of Thessaloniki 57 copper coins were found that were issued in Propontis and the Black Sea. 22 of them are from Constantinople, 18 from Cyzicus, 5 from Nikomedia, 9 from Heraklia, 1 from Troad, 1 from Bythynia and 1 from Panticapaeum and are dated back to the 3 to 4 century AD.

“These coins prove that a trade relation between Thessaloniki and other cities in the Propontis and the Black Sea had been developed in the Roman Era,” assistant professor of Classical Archaeology Manolis Manoledakis stated.