Kerameikos Cemetary
Kerameikos Cemetary
One of the most beautiful and least visited of the archaeological sites in downtown Athens is Kerameikos, the ancient cemetery of Athens. The area was on the northwest fringe of the ancient city and and is now the outer edge of the areas visited by most travelers. But if you follow Ermou street down from the Monastiraki train station you will easily find it on your right.
When you vist Greece in the summer, the ground around the ancient stones has been baked by the sun and anything that was alive is as brown as the dirt. But in the winter when it rains everything is covered in grass and moss and it gives you a strange feeling like you are in Ireland, in some remains of an ancient Greek or Roman colony.
Within the site are the ancient walls of Athens and the Sacred Gate which was only used by pilgrims from Eleusus using the sacred road to and from that site during the anual procession. Nearby is the Dipylon gate which was the main entrance to the city, where the Panathenaic procession began and where the cities prostitutes congregated so they could make themselves available to weary travelers.
Between the two gates is the Pompeion, where the preparations were made for the Panathenaic procession which was in honor of Athena. The building was completely destroyed in 88BC and a 3 aisled building called the Building of the Warehouses was erected in it’s place in the 2nd century AD. The church of Agia Triada is in the background. The Eridanos river which once passed through the Sacred gate still flows beneath the site. It was covered by the Romans.
There is a small museum with some really nice pottery, sculptures and right next to it is a collection of pillars which I assume were grave markers. It was just so beautiful that the ancient past seemed irrelevant. If you can get there in the winter or before the tourist hordes arrive for the summer then go. But even if you come in the summer be sure to take the walk to Kerameikos and hang out for awhile.
