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Eleusinion

5th-century BC religious buildings and structuresDestroyed templesEleusinian MysteriesGreek building and structure stubsTemples in ancient Athens
Temples of DemeterTemples of Persephone

Eleusinion was a sanctuary in Athens, Greece, dedicated to Demeter and Kore (Persephone). The temple was built in the early 5th-century BC. It was located at the base of the Acropolis. Below it was a spring called Enneakrounos (Nine Jets). The building had a size of around 11 x 18m. It contained statues of Demeter and Kore as well as of Iakkhos, a leader of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Close by was another temple of Triptolemus. The Eleusinion played an important role in the Panathenaic festival. It is known as the place where all sacred objects associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries were kept between ceremonies. It was also there preparations was made for the sacred processions of the Mysteries. Pausanias describe the sanctuary in the 2nd century: The Athenians have ... another [harbour] at Phaleron, as I have already stated, and near it is a sanctuary of Demeter." [...] On entering the city [of Athens] there is a building for the preparation of the processions, which are held in some cases every year, in others at longer intervals. Hard by is a temple of Demeter, with images of the goddess herself and of her daughter [Kore], and of Iakkhos [daimon leader of the Eleusinaian Mysteries] holding a torch. [...] [In Athens] is a spring called Enneakrounos (Nine Jets) ... Above the spring are two temples, one to Demeter and Kore (the Maid), while in that of Triptolemos is a statue of him ... After I had intended to go further into this story [of Triptolemos and Demeter], and to describe the contents of the sanctuary at Athens, called the Eleusinion, I was stayed by a vision in a dream. I shall therefore turn to those things it is lawful to write of to all men. In front of this temple, where is also the statue of Triptolemos, is a bronze bull being led as it were to sacrifice. [...] [Near the Akropolis of Athens] there is also a sanctuary of Ge Kourotrophe (Earth Nurse of Youth), and of Demeter Khloe (Green). You can learn all about their names by conversing with the priests.The sanctuary was closed in the 4th-century during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire. Few excavations has been made of it.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Eleusinion (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Eleusinion
Παναθηναίων, Athens

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N 37.973686 ° E 23.7246 °
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Παναθηναίων

Παναθηναίων
105 55 Athens (1st District of Athens)
Attica, Greece
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Klepsydra (Akropolis)
Klepsydra (Akropolis)

The Klepsydra of the Acropolis of Athens (not to be confused with the water clock klepsydra of the Agora) is a natural spring on the north-west slope of the Acropolis hill, near the intersection of the Peripatos and the Panathenaic Way. It had been in use as a source of water since prehistoric times but sometime in the fifth century BCE the site was developed with several new structures built. The site consisted of the paved court, a well, the covered well-house, a later Roman apsidal well house (subsequently a Byzantine chapel) and a flight of stone-carved steps up to the Propylaea. There are several references to the source in ancient literature; Hesychius says of it “Klepsydra is a fountain which was formerly called Empedo”. Empedo, argues Parsons, was the name of the spring and Klepsydra the name given to the water made available by the fountain house. It would seem that Empedo was also the name of the tutelary deity of the spring – an Attic nymph. Mention is also made of the fountain by Aristophanes, Pausanias, and Plutarch.It was Stuart and Revett who first identified the free-flowing stream on the face of the hill with the klepsydra mentioned by the ancient authors. During the period of Frankish control, the klepsydra was heavily fortified; however, during the long period of Ottoman occupation the well fell into disuse such that the Turkish garrison of the Acropolis was forced to surrender at the siege of 1822 due to the lack of water. Kyriakos Pittakis rediscovered the source of the spring, leaving the first written account of the site in 1835. Archaeological examination began in earnest with Émile Bturnouf in 1874, and with later development having been cleared from the site Kavvadias uncovered the paved court in 1897. From 1936 to 1940 the American School of Classical Studies at Athens undertook a campaign of excavation, with this the paved court, fountain house and draw basin were fully exposed. It was from this final excavation that it was determined that the spring house had been set into a natural cave which had collapsed sometime in antiquity. A shaft was then opened into the well directly accessible from the Acropolis and a new well house constructed above in the Roman period. From potsherds recovered it was ascertained that the original Greek fountain house was built not earlier than 475–470 BCE.

Arrephorion
Arrephorion

The Arrephorion or House of the Arrephoroi is a building conjectured to have been on the Acropolis of Athens based on a passage in Pausanias. The discovery of the foundations of a substantial building on the north-west edge of the Acropolis has led to the identification of this structure with the Arrephorion.Pausanias reports that: I was much amazed at something which is not generally known, and so I will describe the circumstances. Two maidens dwell not far from the temple of Athena Polias, called by the Athenians Bearers of the Sacred Offerings. For a time they live with the goddess, but when the festival comes round they perform at night the following rites. Having placed on their heads what the priestess of Athena gives them to carry—neither she who gives nor they who carry have any knowledge what it is—the maidens descend by the natural underground passage that goes across the adjacent precincts, within the city, of Aphrodite in the Gardens. They leave down below what they carry and receive something else which they bring back covered up. These maidens they henceforth let go free, and take up to the Acropolis others in their place. Additionally, Plutarch remarks on the existence of a ballcourt adjacent to the house. The physical remains fit what we know of the House of the Arrephoroi but the evidence is still circumstantial that this was in fact the residence of the Arrephoroi.The dimensions of the building are 12.2 m square, and it was erected on a foundation of limestone blocks. It was divided into a south-facing portico of 4.4 m deep and a single rectangular room of approximately 8m by 12m. The terrace immediately around the building is an artificial one created by infill, which along with the foundation is dated to the last half of the 5th century or contemporary with the Erechtheion.The reconstruction of the architecture is controversial. While Dörpfeld assumed a south-facing front with two columns in antis - a conjecture that has recently been taken up again - four columns between the antae were later reconstructed. However, since no other four-column antae structures are known, a reconstruction with a six-column prostyle porch was recently proposed. Because of the wide foundations, it can be assumed that there was a step substructure, a crepidoma, on which the actual building stood. Only a gable with a corresponding roof can have risen above the six-columned, prostyle portico. Older reconstructions with a hipped, pyramidal roof would therefore have to be discarded. The order of the columns in the building is unclear. An Ionic order is to be considered, although most available reconstructions assume a Doric order.

Beulé Gate
Beulé Gate

The Beulé Gate (French pronunciation: [bœ'le]) is a fortified gate, constructed in the Roman period, leading to the Propylaia of the Acropolis of Athens. It was constructed almost entirely from repurposed materials (spolia) taken from the Choragic Monument of Nikias, a monument built in the fourth century BCE and demolished between the second and fourth centuries CE. The dedicatory inscription from Nikias's monument is still visible in the entablature of the Beulé Gate. The gate was integrated into the Post-Herulian Wall, a late Roman fortification built around the Acropolis in the years following the city's sack by the Germanic Heruli people in 267 or early 268 CE. Its construction marked the beginning of a new phase in the Acropolis's use, in which it came to be seen more as a potential defensive position than in the religious terms that had marked its use in the classical period. During the medieval period, the gate was further fortified and closed off, before being built over with a bastion in Ottoman times. The monument was discovered by the French archaeologist Charles Ernest Beulé in 1852, and excavated between 1852 and 1853. Its discovery was greeted enthusiastically in France among the scholarly community and the press, though archaeologists and Greek commentators criticised the aggressive means – particularly the use of explosives – by which Beulé had carried out the excavation. In modern times, the gate has served primarily as an exit for tourists from the Acropolis.