Eleusinion

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Eleusinion (Ancient Greek: Ἐλευσίνιον), also called the City Eleusinion (Ancient Greek: Ἐλευσίνιον τὸ ἐν ἄστει, romanized: Eleusinion to en astei) was a sanctuary on the lower part of the north slope of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, dedicated to Demeter and Kore (Persephone). It was the central hub of Eleusinian Mysteries within Athens and the starting point for the annual procession to Eleusis, in the northwest of Attica. Religious activity is attested in the area from the 7th century BC and construction took place throughout late Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. The sanctuary was enclosed within the new city walls built after the Herulian sack of Athens in AD 267 and it remained in use until the late fourth century AD. Only the western part of the sanctuary has been excavated, which consists of an upper area and three terraces, centring on a small temple for the hero Triptolemus, an outer propylon (gateway) and a South Stoa. A circular building in the southernmost part of the sanctuary might be a banqueting hall dedicated to Plouton and a precinct at the northernmost edge of the area might have belonged to Hecate. Sculptural fragments have been discovered from...

220m 240yds 3 2 1 Location of the Eleusinion, in Athens. 1 Eleusinion 2 Acropolis 3 Athenian Agora

The sanctuary is located on the lower part of the northern slope of the Acropolis, just to the south of the Athenian Agora. The western boundary was the Panathenaic Way, along which the Post-Herulian Wall was built in the late third century AD. The southern limit is the perimeter road running around the upper slopes of the Acropolis. The northern boundary was the northern branch of the Street of the Tripods. The distance from north to south is about 200 metres. The eastern border is unknown, but may have been up to 200 metres from the western edge.

The general location of the sanctuary was known from references in Xenophon, Philostratus, scholia to Aristophanes, and especially Pausanias, who places it above the Enneakrounos (nine jets) fountain, which he locates in the south central Agora. The site was excavated as part of the American excavations of the Athenian Agora, in 1936-1939 and 1959–1960. Only a strip from the western edge of the sanctuary has been excavated, varying in width from 18 to 40 metres. Many structures known from literary sources have not been found and are presumed to be located further east, under modern housing.

Inscriptions, sculpture, and votive vessels relating to the Eleusinian cult are found throughout the Agora, but they cluster mainly in the area of the Eleusinion. Three inscriptions found in the area specifically state that they were to be set up in the Eleusinion. These factors confirm the identification of the site as the Eleusinion.

Pausanias describes the sanctuary in the 2nd century AD, as containing two temples, one for Demeter and Kore ( Persephone ) and the other for Triptolemus. There was a bronze statue of a bull in front of the latter. Pausanias says that he was forbidden from discussing the contents of the sanctuary in detail by a dream and says nothing about the temple of Demeter and Kore, but does describe the temple of Triptolemus. This seems to indicate that the sanctuary consisted of an inner, holier section containing the former temple and an outer, less holy section containing Triptolemus' temple.

Other sources refer to an altar, a source of purifying water, a shrine called the Tomb of Immaradus, and a Ploutonion.

The sanctuary consists of an upper area and three terraces, descending down the slope from south to north. The original sanctuary consisted of only section II and the upper terrace, but it was later expanded to incorporate the middle terrace. It is unclear whether the lower terrace was actually part of the sanctuary.

Section II The upper (southernmost) area is "Section II", a steep slope, located outside the peribolos wall, but apparently part of the original sanctuary area, since archaeological evidence reveals votive deposits. There is also a circular building of Hellenistic date. A vaulted branch of the aqueduct of Hadrian, built in the mid-2nd century AD, runs along the north side of the section, ultimately feeding into the nymphaeum in the southeast of the Agora. To the south of that was a narrow Roman road, which led to a gate in the Post-Herulian wall.

Upper terrace The upper terrace, formed by a flat section of bedrock was the original core of the sanctuary. It contains a "rocky outcrop" at the western edge, which is 2 metres wide, 3 metres long and rises above the surrounding area. Such outcrops were often important in cults of Demeter throughout the Greek world. The area is enclosed by a polygonal limestone wall ("the Archaic peribolos "), built around 575-550 BC. It varied between 0.9 and 1.15 metres in thickness at the base; the whole 22 metre-long stretch is preserved on the western side; the foundation trench and shorter stretches are preserved on the northern and southern sides for 26 and 28 metres respectively. The eastern wall has not been uncovered. The original entrance to the precinct was on the south side, 3 metres from the western end, opening onto "Section II". A second entrance was built on the same wall, 20 metres to the east, in the period 350-325 BC, possibly part of the construction work of 329/8 BC. In the Hellenistic period, the south peribolos wall was demolished and the South Stoa was built over the top of it, separating the upper terrace from "Section II" and sealing both entrances. A propylon (gateway) was built into the peribolos wall on the west side, near the southern end, at the same time as the South Stoa was built, and served as the main entrance to the Eleusinion thereafter. The north edge was of the upper terrace was formed by a retaining wall 6.8 metres north of the Stoa, which was demolished in the 4th century AD.

Middle terrace The middle terrace was added to the sanctuary at the end of the 6th century, doubling the size of the sanctuary. The temple of Triptolemus stood here, with its entrance facing onto the edge of the upper stoa. The area was surrounded by the "early 5th-century peribolos wall," which is preserved in small stretches on the west and north. It is made of limestone and was 1.10 metres wide. The northern wall has been revealed for a length of 28 metres. The western wall was 21 metres long and continues the archaic peribolos. The northern and western parts of the peribolos were covered over by a massive retaining wall in the 4th century BC. It may have supported a platform for viewing the Panathenaic procession. There were steps on the outer west face of this retaining wall for inscribed stelae. A 0.8 metre-wide dividing wall runs north–south to the east of the temple, diving the it off from the inner sanctuary.

Lower terrace The lower terrace, originally a marsh, was created at the end of the 6th century BC with the rubble from clearing the middle terrace of houses. It was outside the peribolos wall of the Eleusinion and it is unclear whether it was part of the sanctuary. A 6-meter-long east–west wall at the western end of this terrace, just north of the retaining wall, was built in the fourth century BC, it may have been the peribolos for a small adjunct shrine, of which no trace now remains. In the 1st century AD, the area was flattened and a complex was built on the western edge of the terrace, consisting of four rooms, three bases for monuments or altars, and an offering table. This complex may have been a workshop, a separate sanctuary, or - most likely - a set of storerooms for the Eleusinion's grain supply. The northern edge of the lower terrace was bound by an east–west street from the 6th century BC until the Ottoman period. Abutting this street and the Panathenaic Way, in the northwest corner of the sanctuary, was a small precinct, probably for Hecate.

The temple faces north–south and is 17.813 m long and 11.065 metres wide. The entrance was at the south end (i.e. opening onto the upper terrace). Traces of the foundation and roof have been found; nothing from the superstructure survives, but it was probably made of marble, like the roof. Margaret Miles proposes that the dimensions and materials indicate that it was an Ionic tetrastyle amphiprostyle temple, i.e. with four Ionic columns at the north and south ends. This is the same design used for the later Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis. The columns would have been about 1.10 m in diameter at the base. Construction began on the temple between 500 and 490 BC, as shown by pottery evidence from the foundations. The remnants of the roof seem to date to 475-450 BC. This date coincides with the proliferation of images of Triptolemus in Athenian art. The chief of works may have been Coroebus, who also oversaw the construction of the 5th century Telesterion at Eleusis.

The foundations are made of gray kara limestone, but yellow poros and limestone from the Acropolis were also used in the walls. Because of the steepness of the slope, the south end of the temple sits directly on the bedrock, while the north end required ten courses of masonry. The cuttings in the bedrock for the temple's foundations are still visible on the western side. The foundations were built of high-quality polygonal masonry, without clamps or dowels. The foundation blocks survive for the whole north side and parts of the western and eastern sides. The foundations of the cross-wall that separated the pronaos from the cella are partially preserved. An extension was added to the east side of the temple during construction, which measures 2.20-2.355 m wide and is composed of red crystalline blocks originally cut for use in some other context. The addition may have been made so that the width:length ratio of the temple would be closer to the golden ratio, which became popular in temple construction at this time.

The remains of the roof consist of 88 fragments from marble tiles (30 cover tiles, 58 pan tiles, 1 end ridge tile) and 4 marble antefixes. The workmanship is of a very high standard. The palmettes of the antefixes resemble the archaic Telesterion at Eleusis (510-500 BC), and especially those from the roofs of the treasuries in the sanctuary of Apollo at Delos (478-450 BC).

The archaeological remains are identified as the temple of Triptolemus mentioned by Pausanias because his account indicates that it was in the outer part of the sanctuary and archaeology shows that the entrance to the Eleusinion in his time was through the propylon next to this temple. In mythology, Triptolemus was the first human to receive the gifts of farming and initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries from Demeter. He then rode around the world in a winged chariot, informing all people of these gifts.

Pausanias states that there was a statue of Triptolemus inside the temple. This has not been discovered archaeologically, but is probably one of the symbols depicted on fourth-century BC Panathenaic amphorae. There are examples from 364/3 onwards showing the statue standing in a winged chariot holding a branch, with a snake next to the chariots wheels. Pausanias also mentions statues of the semi-legendary seer Epimenides and of a bull in front of this temple. The latter probably depicted the bull with gilded horns which was the standard sacrificial offering for Triptolemus according to the late fifth-century First-Fruits decree. To the east of the temple, there are the limestone foundations of altar (1.10 x 2.70 metres), probably built in ca. 500 BC. East of this is a 2.20 metre long monument base of yellow poros, running east–west, which was built in the period 450-425 BC; it seems to have been intended to support a set of inscribed stelae (no longer present).

A propylon (gateway) was built into the peribolos wall on the west side, near the southern end, in the 2nd century BC, opening onto the Panathenaic Way. It served as the main entrance to the Eleusinion thereafter. It was a porch, with an H-shaped ground plan, i.e. two walls perpendicular to the peribolos wall which supported a roof, and a cross-wall between them, containing the actual doors.

The foundations are consist of poros, conglomerate, and marble blocks - many of them reused - set directly into the bedrock. In the centre, the foundations were covered over by Hymettan marble pavers, some of which survive. The date of construction is indicated by pottery sherds found in the packing of the foundations and by parallels with other Athenian structures of similar date. It precedes cuttings made into the bedrock to the west in order to lower and pave the Panathenaic Way in the first and second centuries AD.

The propylon was incorporated into the Post-Herulian Wall in the late third century AD.