Paradeisos (archaeological site)

Paradeisos is an archaeological site located in the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Northern Greece, on a flat hilltop at the west bank of the river Nestos. The site is known today as 'Klisi Tepe', named after the ruins of a Byzantine church, and archaeological excavations were started by the Swedish Institute at Athens in 1975. To the north are the Rhodope Mountains, while to the south the river Nestos has created a large plain, that extends 30 km towards the Aegean Sea. The settlement was probably located closer to the coastline, which has since expanded. The Via Egnatia, the Roman road connecting Durrës and Constantinople have crossed the river Nestos here at least since Hellenistic times (possibly following an earlier road).