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Remains of the oldest temple of Asklepieion (front) and the repaired Eleusinion (back) Archaeological Society at Athens © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία -
Fragmentary marble block inscribed on three sides, found near the City Eleusinion. The text details the regulation of the Eleusinian Mystery festival. The British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum -
Stater of Kyzikos with Triptolemos in car drawn by winged serpents above tunny fish Boston Museum of Fine Arts © Boston Museum of Fine Arts -
Coin of Eleusis with Triptolemos in winged car Boston Museum of Fine Arts © Boston Museum of Fine Arts -
Topographic plan of the area of Eleusinion - Areopagus Alcestis Choremi-Spetsieri Archaeological Society at Athens © Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία
At the end of the 7th century BC, the area of Eleusis was incorporated into Attica and became a deme (municipality). The Athenians took over the supervision of the renowned Eleusinian Mysteries and established in their own city a sanctuary dedicated to the Eleusinian deities at the beginning of the 6th century BCE.
The Eleusinion Sanctuary or En Astei (City) Eleusinion was located at the northern foothills of the Acropolis, east of the Panathenaic Way and functioned as a satellite of the great temple of Demeter in Eleusis. While the exact form of the sanctuary is not known, it is believed that within its enclosure other deities, such as Triptolemus and possibly Hecate, were worshipped. The priestesses of Demeter were honoured there, and it also housed the tomb of Immaradus, the son of the mythical Eumolpus, who held a significant role in the Eleusinian Mysteries.
At the beginning of the 5th century BCE, within the sanctuary’s peribolos, a temple was constructed, with a cella and an adyton for the storage of the sacred vessels. To the east, there was an altar and, later, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, additions were made including a propylon, a portico, a circular building and a building with four rooms that would have been used for storage.
The Eleusinion played a significant role in the celebration of the Mysteries, symbolically uniting Athens and Eleusis within the frame of the festival’s rituals. On the eve of the Great Mysteries, on the 15th of the month of Boedromion (September-October), the Sacred Objects were carried from Eleusis to Athens in a procession led by the Hierophant, the highest-ranking and life-long priest of the Mysteries descending from the Eumolpidae family, and the Dadouchos, the second-ranking priest from the Kerykes. family. The Sacred Objects, the nature of which is not precisely known, were carried by the priests in chests and deposited in the Eleusinion. After six days, these objects were returned to Eleusis in a magnificent religious procession. In addition, on the last day of the Mysteries, the Boule (Council of Five Hundred) convened at the Eleusinion, addressing cases of offences related to the conduct of the festival.
Within the enclosure of the sanctuary were discovered eleven inscriptions detailing the condemnation of Alcibiades and his co-defendants, as well as the terms of confiscation of their properties: in 415/4 BCE, Alcibiades and other young men from aristocratic families were accused of defaming the events of the Eleusinian Mysteries and mutilating Hermaic steles. The defendants were convicted of their inappropriate and disrespectful acts and their vast property was sold at an auction. The inscriptions erected inside the sanctuary essentially constitute the records of the confiscation of their properties and provide valuable insights into the private economy of the time, as they inform us of the cost of goods, slaves and houses.
The sanctuary of the Eleusinion suffered severe damages during the raid of the Heruli in 267 CE, but the temple does not seem to have been destroyed. Shortly afterwards, its western part was occupied by the Late Roman wall in which the propylon, part of the portico and part of the peribolos were incorporated, integrating the sanctuary into the fortified section of Athens. From inscriptions of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, it can be deduced that the Eleusinian cult continued to be practised at the sanctuary until the invasion of Alaric in 396 CE, when the Visigoths destroyed both the Sanctuary of Demeter in Eleusis and the Athenian Eleusinion.
