The expansion of the modern highway, which overlaps with parts of the ancient Sacred Way, has significantly altered the area’s layout. Consequently, various historical structures that once lined the Sacred Way have either vanished or been moved for preservation. A collection of marble fragments, haphazardly heaped at some part of the road’s side, are remnants of the so-called “tomb of Straton”, a classical-era funerary monument. This ancient tomb was initially a mound of earth encased in white marble, topped with a commemorative stele. An engraving identifies it as belonging to Straton, a resident of the Cydathenaeum deme in what is now Plaka, near the Acropolis. The grave also held the remains of Straton’s wife, Polla, a non-Athenian, and their son, Isidotus.
The exact time this monument’s destruction is unknown. In the Middle Ages, its marble was repurposed to construct a square fortress, known as the White Tower, located slightly east of today’s Aspropyrgos junction. This tower lent its name to the nearby municipality, Aspropyrgos (literally meaning White Tower). The area, initially called Hasiotika Kalivia, was settled in the 17th century. Presently, the location where the medieval tower once stood is beneath the asphalt of the highway.
