Royal Burial Cluster of Philip II, Royal burial site in Vergina, Greece

The Royal Burial Cluster is a 112-metre-wide, 12-metre-high earthen tumulus at Vergina containing four separate Macedonian tombs and a heroon. Tomb II, found intact, has a stucco-covered facade with two Doric columns and a painted frieze 5.56 m long and 1.16 m high showing a royal hunt; Tomb I, the Tomb of Persephone, has three painted walls depicting the abduction of Persephone by Hades.

Excavation of the Great Tumulus began in 1937 under Professor K. Romaios, but the tombs inside were only found in 1977 by Manolis Andronikos. Tomb II was intact, and its occupant has been identified as Philip II, though some scholars argue for Tomb I. In 1996 UNESCO listed ancient Aigai, the first capital of Macedon, as a World Heritage Site.

The tomb goods include Philip II's gold larnax and gold oak wreath, a ceremonial shield, Meda's wreath, and a diadem attributed to Eurydice or Cleopatra. Tomb III held a silver hydria with a gold oak-leaf crown containing a youth's cremated remains, placed before a chryselephantine bed and table with pottery.

The underground museum maintains controlled temperatures to protect the tombs while allowing visitors to see the burial chambers and artifacts in their original positions. The visitor path is carefully organized to explore these ancient spaces without damaging the site.

Tomb I, often called the Tomb of Persephone, held the bones of seven people, including an adolescent, three newborns and a fetus, according to remains found stored in two boxes at the Vergina museum and analysed in 2014. Its north wall shows Hades seizing Persephone on a white chariot, with Hermes and a companion nearby.