Ancient Greek palace where Alexander the Great was proclaimed king reopens

Thousands flock to see the Palace of Aigai, the largest surviving classical Greek building, after 16-year reconstruction completed

For 2,170 years it had lain in ruins: a palace that symbolised the golden age of antiquity, three times bigger than the Parthenon, unprecedented in architectural ambition, unparalleled in beauty.

It was here in 336BC that the king of ancient Macedonia, Philip II, was murdered; and here in the great peristyle - or columned courtyard - around which its banqueting halls coalesced that his 20-year-old son, Alexander the Great, would be proclaimed king, a moment that would change the course of history.