Kerameikos Ancient Cemetery (Athens) | archaeological site, interesting place, fenced area

 ancient, archaeological site, interesting place, fenced area

Named after the demigod, Keramos, who ruled over the potters who lived and worked along the banks of the Eridanos river, just outside Athens. The potters, or kerameis (think English: ceramic) used the clay from the riverbank to manufacture funeral monuments for the graves which by Athenian law had to be located outside the city walls. Today, the "river" is basically a ditch. The site includes the remains of private monuments and public buildings that filled the area between two important roads--the Dromos, to the north, which was the continuation of the Panathenaic way and continued that road through the Dipylon Gate all the way to the Academy of Plato, and the Sacred Way, which was the great ceremonial route leading from Athens to Eleusis.

Despite the importance of the site (this is where Perikles delivered his famous funeral oration during the Peloponesian War), it is not visited nearly as much as other places in Athens. Frequently you can have the whole place to yourself. It is very hot in the summer, though, so bring water. --grecodan




www.athensguide.com/kerameikos.html