Kerameikos lies north-west of the Agora, between the Thissio and Kerameikos metro stations, on the edge of the Gazi district. The name comes from the potters (kerameis) who worked the clay of the Eridanos river here: the word "ceramics" derives from the same term. Out of these workshops came the great geometric amphorae and the black- and red-figure vases admired in museums all over the world.
The city of the dead
Since the ancients buried their dead outside the walls, Kerameikos became Athens' most important cemetery, used from the Bronze Age to Roman times. Along the roads leading out of the city, wealthy families built monumental tombs with carved stelae, marble vases and statues of animals. In the stretch called the Street of Tombs many can still be seen, some original, others replaced by copies: among the best known are the stele of Hegeso, a lady choosing a jewel from a box (the original is in the National Archaeological Museum), and the monument to the young horseman Dexileos, killed in battle in 394 BC.
Just outside the walls was also the public cemetery where the war dead were buried: here, according to Thucydides, Pericles delivered his famous funeral oration in 431 BC, a eulogy of Athenian democracy still studied in schools today.
The city gates
Kerameikos was crossed by the Themistoclean walls, hastily rebuilt after the Persian invasion. Two of the main gates opened here: the Dipylon, the "double gate", from which the road led to Plato's Academy, and the Sacred Gate, from which the Sacred Way led to Eleusis, seat of the mysteries of Demeter. Between the two gates stood the Pompeion, the building where the Panathenaic procession was prepared before climbing through the Agora to the Acropolis.
The museum
The site's small, renovated museum displays the most important funerary sculptures, including the original stele of Dexileos, statues of sphinxes and lions, and a rich collection of vases found in the tombs, from protogeometric pottery to classical oil flasks. It is a chance to see up close objects linked to daily life and funeral rites.
Practical information
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Entrance | Ermou Street 148 |
| Getting there | Metro Thissio (line 1) or Kerameikos (line 3), 5 minutes on foot |
| Ticket | Own ticket, free for EU citizens up to 25 |
| Time | About an hour |
| Atmosphere | Few visitors, trees, frogs and tortoises in the channels of the Eridanos |
After the visit you are a short walk from Gazi and Psyrri, with plenty of places for the evening. See also Gazi and Kerameikos and ancient Greek religion.