The earliest habitation period of the city dates to the 10th c. BC and continued in the centuries to come. The city developed in Classical times and became an urban centre from the 4th to the 1st c. BC. Its heyday however, dates to the Roman era, from the 1st to the 3rd c. AD, when it was destroyed by an unknown cause.

The city was protected by a fortification wall and had a very well-organized city grid, adjusted to the terrain. It was densely built with paved streets, water and sewage network, spacious houses with storage and open-air spaces, as well as workshop areas (for metallurgical use and more) along with cult spaces. The existence of a central buttress wall to the east of the main street, which almost all buildings in the area are attached to, signifies political decisions and an architectural pre-design.

The houses are spacious, with the main rooms often located along the street. They also had auxiliary semi-open-air spaces, which often included a rectangular paved floor, that probably functioned as the base for a home altar. The houses were tile-roofed and their walls were plastered. The floors were either paved or strewn with clay slabs or just pressed dirt. Various constructions have been found in the interior, mostly benches or built corners for food preparation, while the numerous finds such as clay or glass vessels, lamps, iron and bronze tools, figurines, moulds for vessels, figurines or clay plaques, along with the multitude of coins, offer information on the inhabitants? daily life, their occupations and their religious beliefs.

The most central part of the city, west of the ancient roads is occupied by two honorary Heroa (I and II), which date to the end of the 1st and early 2nd c AD. They were buildings made out of square outer courts but differing internally. The most important of the two, Heroon I, consists of an impressive rectangular building resting on a krepidoma in the centre of the court. A tall rectangular pedestal was placed inside, where the statues of five members of a prominent family were erected, and worshipped like heroes. Four out of the five statues were discovered in 1960, and the inscriptions on the pedestal reveal their identities. It is the father, Patraos, the mother Ammia, and the three sons, Alexandros, Zoilos and Midis. The name Patraos recalls the royal house of the Paionians. The later inscription of the name Zoilos though indicates that the pedestal was initially intended for four figures and it is uncertain whether a fifth statue was ever erected, given the fact that no trace of it survived. The altar for the worship was found in front of the building, while traces of ritual practices confirmed the cult of heroes, which took place along the outer walls of the complex, which also included spaces for gatherings. Heroon II, next to Heroon I, had a different interior organization. It was formed into three raised levels and its west side included three roofed spaces with paved floors. A cist grave built and covered with clay and stone slabs was found on the west side of the middle space.

At the summit of the hill and 9.50 m higher than the level of the Heroon, a polygonal enclosure was discovered, NW-SE in axis, which enclosed an area of approximately 3.500m. It is divided into three parts and the entrance is located around the middle of its eastern side. A large rectangular building has been revealed in its central part, currently under excavation. A square building in touch with the enclosure on the north side has been interpreted as a possible watchtower. The spatial organization of the summit makes it possible to identify the area as the administrative and religious centre of the city, while the small thickness of the walls indicate that it was probably not a fortification wall.

The economic organization of the urban centre was based on agricultural, commercial and craft activities. The number and variety of finds (clay vessels, figurines, seals, loom weights, metal objects etc.) reveal the wide variety of activities conducted by the citizens, along with their living standards. The coins found, indicate commercial relations with other cities in Macedonia (Amphipolis, Pella, Thessaloniki, Stoboi, Philippi, Herakleia Sindiki and others). Agriculture and animal husbandry coexists alongside more specialized activities, like pottery and metallurgy. Household crafts like cereal grinding for food preparation and weaving are attested by the discovery of numerous grinders, mills and loom weights. Children?s toys, like clay horses and animal figurines offer us a glimpse in the world of children.

The Greek pantheon was worshipped in the city, such as Zeus Hypsistos, Hermes, Athena, the Graces, the Hero Horseman. The cult of Dionysus appears to have been very important, testified by a full-bodied statue of the god with a panther skin and a dedicatory inscription that mentions the cult followers of Dionysus Gongylon. The epithet is also found in the Sarapieion of Thessaloniki, and is directly associated with Sarapis and the also Egyptian god Besa, whose figurines were also found in the area of Heroon II. The cult of the eastern deity, also imported and the mother of gods, Cybele, is also important.