479-323 B.C.  

KERAMEIKOS

      By the name Kerameikos was known the area west and east of the city's wall western part. Kerameikos border from the east was the Agora (Inner Kerameikos) and from the west, outside the wall (Outer Kerameikos), was the biggest and most important cemetary. There were buried the soldiers killed in battles and the most important Athenians. The name Kerameikos was propably derived from the many pottery makers (Kerameis) that lived there.

The Themistoclean Wall

   The two Kerameikos were divided by the western part of the city's wall that was constructed by Themistocles in 479 B.C. immediately after the Persian Wars. It had a total length of 6.500 metres, height 8m, width 3m and had at least 13 gates. The most important of them were in Kerameikos. The northern and biggest one was the Dipylon. Its name was derived from its shape, eg the two rows of towers it had for best defense. Its older name was "Thriasiai Pylai" and from there begun the road that led to the Plato's Academy, Piraeus, Eleusis, and Peloponnesus.

    The second gate in Kerameikos was also important. It was the Sacred Gate from were passed the Sacred Way that led to Eleusis. From there used to begin a 22 kilometres procession in the day of Eleusina feast. From the same gate passes the river Eridanos.

    The city was fortified with more walls. In 459 B.C. Cimon begun the construction of the Long Walls. He made the Northern and the Phalericon Walls. Between 446 and 443 B.C. Pericles builds the Southern Long wall parallel to the Northern and the Phalericon was no used any more. The Long Walls connected Athens with the Piraeus. They were 6 kilometres long each and the distance between the two was almost 200 metres. Today their lines are followed exactly by Peiraios street (Northen) and a part of the metro line 1 (Southern).

     The Athenians had to destroy all their fortifications after their defeat in the Peloponnesian war. But soon, when the democracy was reestablished, Conon repaired the walls in 394 B.C.  In 338 B.C. when about to face the Macedonian danger they built a smaller wall in front of the main one as an extra defense in Kerameikos. In 86 B.C., Roman general Sylla invades the city after breaching the wall in the area of Kerameikos. When the Heruli invade in 267 A.D. and destroy the city found the walls in desperate situation. The Athenians will never be able to rebuilt the Themistoclean wall. They will built a very small wall with the city's ruins, around Acropolis, the Postherulian wall.

The Pompeion

      The Pompeion was a rectangular building built south to the Dipylon. It was constructed in the beginning of the 4th century B.C. in order to be used as a preparation place for the Panathinaia procession wich begun from this place to end up in the Parthenon. It had a square court with rooms around that were used as warehouses or food facilities. The internal walls were decorated with paintings and in the court probably stood a statue of Socrates created by Lysippos. In the northeast was the main entrance in Ionic order. The building was also used as a gymnasium. It was destroyed during the Roman invasion of 86 B.C.  The site was later (150 A.D) occupied by a new bigger building, probably a warehouse.

   For the monuments of Classic Athens click below:

 THE ACROPOLIS  

THE AGORA

SOUTH SLOPE OF ACROPOLIS