Dimos Elefsina

Now in a suburb of Athens, this is the site of the Eleusinian (Elysian) Mysteries, aka Mysteries of Demeter and Kore (Persephone). And it is the birthplace of Aeschylus, author and father of Greek tragedy.
Eleusis sits on a coastal hill opposite the Island of Salamis. This is where the naval battle took place at the same time as Thermopylae (see another post).
The 1st picture is s large marble platform that left me a bit in awe of walking on 2,000 year old marble flooring. The 2nd picture is the well of the Fair Dances, said to be where Demeter rested during her search for Persephone.
The 3rd picture is of the "Sacred House" that dates to the 8th century BCE and was dedicated to a hero ancestor. Around the 6th century, it was replaced by a smaller building that is thought to have housed priestesses of the temple to Demeter for centuries thereafter.
The 4th picture is the Temple of Pluto, situated at the entrance of a cave, symbolic of Pluto's subterranean home.
The 5th picture looks at part of the wall with one section (the round if you can tell) of the outside of a cistern.
The last picture looks up to the acropolis. The only thing left is the chapel to Saint Zacharias with the bell tower wrapped in scaffolding at the top. This post-byzantine chapel is built on a portion of the 5th century church.En savoir plus