Ancient meets modern as a new subway in Greece showcases archeological treasures

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A high-tech new subway whose construction uncovered Roman and Byzantine treasures has opened in Greece. As well as sparkling new trains and stations the new line showcases the archeological discoveries which caused decades of delays in building the metro. Construction began in 2003 and unearthed a treasure trove of antiquities in a vast excavation beneath the densely populated city of a million residents. “This project offers a remarkable blend of the ancient and modern, integrating archeological heritage with metro infrastructure,” says Christos Staikouras, Greece’s transport and infrastructure minister during a promotional tour of the new metro. Tunneling followed ancient commercial routes through the center of the port city that has been continuously inhabited since ancient times. It exposed a Roman-era thoroughfare, ancient Greek burial sites, water and drainage systems, mosaics and inscriptions and tens of thousands of artifacts spanning centuries, including the Byzantine and Ottoman rulers. The tunnels had to be bored at a greater depth than originally planned, adding cost and delays, to preserve the ancient discoveries. Key pieces of what was found have been put on display along the underground network of 13 stations, including a section of the marble-paved Roman thoroughfare at the central Venizelou Station. “The project faced substantial delays and many challenges, including over 300,000 archeological finds, many of which are now showcased at various stations along the main line,” Staikouras says. The Thessaloniki metro was first conceived more than a century ago and its completion has been greeted with quiet amazement by residents who for years used the metro project as a punch line for bureaucratic delays and undelivered promises. Government officials said the cost of the metro so far has reached 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion) for the completed first line of the subway system and most of a second line which is currently under construction and due to be delivered in a year. The construction consortium was made up of Greece’s Aktor, Italy’s Webuild and Japan’s Hitachi Rail. Passengers were able to try the new metro system for themselves when it officially opened on November 30. This article was provided by The Associated Press.