On the western side of modern Farsala lies one of ancient Pharsalos’s most important funerary monuments: a stone-built tholos tomb dating to the late Archaic period. Although map labels sometimes call it a classical chamber tomb, archaeological accounts distinguish its circular, corbel-vaulted design and place its construction in the late sixth century BC, with use continuing into later periods.
The tomb belonged to the western cemetery of Pharsalos, a powerful Thessalian city associated in later tradition with Achilles. Its architecture was unusual for the region. A built entrance passage led through a short doorway into a round chamber approximately 4.5 metres in diameter, where two monolithic stone sarcophagi were placed. Polygonal masonry linked the monument visually with the city’s fortifications.
