The archaeological site Gradište is located 500 metres to the east of the village of Knežje, in the vicinity if the town Sveti Nikole. After a survey in 1976, Ivan Mikulčić suggested that this is the location of the largest Paionian city Bylazora. Sporadic test trenches in the 1980s and 1990s gave hope that the site might in fact prove to be Bylazora. In the past Bylazora was traditionally associated with the city of (Titov) Veles, based upon a dubious etymological connection. A subterranean stone-lined chamber approached by a wide stone staircase was the most intriguing structure partially uncovered in the 1980s. It has been called variously a tomb, a pool, a fortified reservoir, and a ritual bath. In 2008, after draining the water and digging out the mud, it was cleared down to the last (22nd) step with the hope of doing a series of trenches to determine the nature of the structure. Unfortunately, on the night of July 3, a torrential downpour filled the structure once more with mud and water. Further excavation will have to be conducted only after the structure is adequately protected from rain and mudslides. Most of the efforts in the 2008 season were concentrated in Sector 3 on the acropolis. During the first days of the excavation season, a sizeable section of a thick (1.5 meter wide) stone wall was cleared. This may be part of the northern defensive wall of the acropolis. Building remains and pottery from an earlier habitation were uncovered to the north of this wall. Unfortunately, the July rains prevented any further clearance of this stratum. Perhaps the most interesting feature uncovered in the 2008 season was a steep inclined stone ramp, about 4 meters wide, leading up from the wall to a well-built threshold. The threshold has a square socket hole in it which indicates the ability to securely bolt the gate of whatever structure lies behind the threshold. From the abundance of roof tiles discovered on the ramp, it appears that this was a roofed structure. At the base of the ramp, where it intersects the wall, a mass of ash, charcoal and charred animal bones was found. This suggests that the ramp might lead to a temple or to a large civic building. Evidence from the excavations alongside the ramp and the defensive wall suggests that this section of the city was destroyed in the 4th century BC. After the destruction, squatters moved into the ruins, leaving behind simple hearths and heaps of pottery, but little in the way of substantial architectural remains. On the last days of the 2008 dig, the excavations beneath this squatter level revealed two large walls which are connected with the defensive wall.

The paved ramp discovered in 2008 was followed to the south and uphill on the acropolis. The ramp appears to be part of a propylon, leading to a pebbled roadway which continues further up the acropolis hill. A number of well-preserved buildings with unknown function flank this road. The discovery of certain re-used architectural fragments (a triglyph and metope) indicates that a Greek style temple may be located somewhere nearby on the acropolis. It seems that the acropolis of Bylazora was terraced, since the contemporary buildings of the acropolis were constructed on different levels following the ancient topography of the hill. A great deal of ancient pottery was discovered in both seasons. Most of the finds are of local Paionian production, but there also is a large quantity of imported pottery from the ancient Macedonian centres and Athens. The investigations of 2008 and 2009 seasons allows the establishment of a relative chronology for this section of the acropolis of Bylazora: 1st Period. Pre-Propylon: The ramp-propylon has within it stones that appear to have been taken from earlier buildings. The trenches have revealed a massive destruction layer beneath the propylon. The remnants of a large First Tower in the acropolis defensive wall may belong to this period. Other scattered structural remains on the acropolis are from a similar early period that dates around 400 BC. 2nd Period. Propylon: The ramp-propylon was built cutting through the defensive wall of the acropolis and a smaller Second Tower was built flanking the entrance to the ramp. There may have been a rebuilding of a section of the acropolis wall at this time. This phase dates from the early 4th century BC. 3rd Period. Destruction: Bylazora was attacked and this section of the city badly destroyed around 350 BC. 4th Period. First Squatter Period: People moved into the ruins of the acropolis, using some of the better surviving walls of the older buildings, including the still-standing remnants of the ramp-propylon. It seems that this period ended around 280 BC and that the invasion of the Danubian Celts in 279 BC might be the reason for the destruction.

In 2008 and 2009 a triglyph and metope were discovered as spolia in the Second Tower and in a First Squatter Period building, indicating that a temple (most likely) had fallen into ruins somewhere on the acropolis and its stones were reused. This opened the possibility that the propylon might lead into the temple precinct. A narrow trench was excavated more than fifty meters following this alignment (towards Sector 6). Modern churned-up debris from when the site was private farmland, then fairly sterile undisturbed ancient soil with just a few potsherds and roof tile fragments, and a sandy gravel that is the subsoil of the plateau of Bylazora were excavated. This lead to the conclusion that the center of the acropolis was a large open area and that the buildings are going to be found along the fortified periphery of the acropolis. Also a several stones of a building of the Doric order; more than likely from a temple (other possibilities: a stoa, colonnade, ceremonial gate, treasury) were found. The “temple stones” had clearly been cut up and probably prepared for firing into a lime kiln. Beneath the “temple stones” a large foundation was documented. Although the location of the temple is still problematic, there is a possibility that this might be the interior stones of the temple stereobate (leveling course). Further to the west, in Sector 6, the trenches revealed the western acropolis defensive wall. This segment of the acropolis wall is much more massive than that section uncovered in Sector 3. The extant wall in Sector 6 was more than three meters thick in some parts and it is preserved to a height of almost 3.5 meters. On the last day of the excavation season a small portion of a structure that may be the western gate of the acropolis was partially opened. The new evidence from the excavations in 2010 updated the established chronology from 2009 by two more periods or phases: Phase 5: А period of partial abandonment of at least the northern part of the acropolis. Phase 6: A Second Squatters period from the early 2nd century BC. A nearly 0.5 meter thick layer of sterile soil is laid down over the ruins of the First Squatter Period, and people again living in the ruins of the former public structures of the city. Squatters utilized the still standing lateral walls of the propylon, as well as the magazines in the casemate wall of the acropolis. This is the last phase of the urban habitation of Bylazora.

In 2010, a pile of stones from a Doric order building were discovered in Sector 6, which can be dated roughly to the 4th-3rd century BC. The first possibility was that stones might be from a temple, but research indicated that they probably came from a stoa or colonnade of some sort. Most of the stones (limestone) were cut up and tossed into a heap. Around this pile of stones was a mass of ash, quicklime, and crazed and cracked stones. Bits of a clay kiln and slag were also found scattered about. Analysis indicated that there were abundant trace elements of limestone – all pointing to a lime burning process. The stones were piled up near a very well preserved section of the acropolis wall and western gate. Two walls of a building that appears to be the stoa were uncovered this season. The back wall runs at least 13.5 meters and the western side wall at least 4.25 meters. The both walls are not excavated in their full extent. The back wall is built of well-dressed stones, the lower course of blocks measuring 0.60 x 1.0 meters; the second course is of smaller stones. Stereobate courses were found beneath the ancient ground level. The discoloration and friable condition of the upper courses of stones indicate that they had been subjected to intense heat. It appears that this building is aligned with the western acropolis gate. One of the objectives of the 2011 season was to connect the acropolis walls of Sectors 3 and 6. Just centimeters beneath the grass, a field of pithoi set down into a clay bed that had been carved into the subsoil was revealed. The pithoi must have been part of the cellar of a very substantial building, of which not a single trace remains, aside from the pithoi themselves. This building must have been incorporated somehow into the circuit of walls on the acropolis. All the pithoi had their rims smashed off and many of these rims were found inside the vessels. A very interesting moment is that many broken pithos bases were found inside these 13 pithoi, which, as mentioned, were still set in their original positions. Another of the objectives of the 2011 season was to discover what buildings might be found on the Second Terrace (middle terrace) of the hill. 5 x 15 meter long trench was opened on the northwest part of the Second Terrace below the acropolis. Many small walls were uncovered just beneath the topsoil. The nature of the walls indicates that this might be the residential area of ancient Bylazora. The ceramic finds from this Second Terrace excavation date the occupation of these buildings to the last days of the town.

The idea that the two massive walls uncovered in 2011 belong to a stoa was negated by the angle of their intersection which is 105°. The wall L24.53 originates at the western gate of the city wall, then joins with L23.52 at the 105° angle, which continue off in a southeasterly direction. A gate was discovered in L23.52 in the easternmost trench, but unfortunately it was not completely uncovered this season. There is a complex of small rooms abutting walls L24.53 and L23.52 in the 105° angle. Most of the stones of these walls have been robbed away by people who used the ruins of Bylazora as a quarry, after the city had been destroyed in the second century BC. On the hard plaster and terracotta floors of these rooms a great mass of food storage, serving, and cooking vessels were found, as well as a large terracotta hearth. The building was destroyed by fire at some point. Specimens of some of the large charred roof timbers were taken for analysis. Numerous painted plaster fragments indicate that the walls of the facility were decorated. The pottery found “inside” the complex dates from the late third and early second centuries BC. Remains of what appears to be a ramp built up against the wall L23.52 were discovered southeast of the above mentioned complex. The stone robbing was so thorough here that it is difficult to ascertain whether the ramp was built earlier than the L23.52 wall or it is associated with it. A fallen Doric column and a capital were found to the southwest of the ramp. The column may have been one of several that stood upon a threshold of large, finely cut stones. One of the most exciting structures found this season is a circular building bounded in by a square building – both built up against the wall L23.52. The complete circle and square have not been exposed yet. In the western part of the circle-square complex there is a break in the walls that might have been the entrance but it is unclear since the stones were robbed away. A square stone was found in the middle of the circular building, whose purpose is unknown at this time. The purpose of the circular building remains unknown since the floor has not been reached, nor the building is exposed to its full extent. A small raised dedication platform was discovered outside the walls L24.53 an L23.52, in square P27 (just alongside the threshold of the gate in the wall L23.52). It consists of four steps upon which at least two small altars and at least two dedicatory Corinthian capitals were placed. It is very interesting that the Corinthian capitals belong to a period of the early second century BC which makes them one of the earliest samples of the type discovered in this part of the Mediterranean.