Kerameikos is a hidden treasury of Athens. Most sightseers visit the Greece capital for a short period. Usually they only climb to the Acropolis and don’t explore carefully the rest of the city. For me it’s a mistake because in Athens you can find a lot charming places and this city is worth more time than a one or two days excursions.
In the 478 BC when were built the walls of Athens the area of Kerameikos belonged to the ancient Athens dem of Kerameik and was divided on the two parts. This area has big deposits of upscale clay so from the ancient times it was settled by the potters.
Two parts of Kerameikos were joined by the gates and from one of them started the road to the ancient Eleusis. Another road from Kerameikos led to the ancient Piraeus.
In ancient Athens were not cemeteries inside of the city walls. Ancient Greeks buried their friends and relatives outside the city along the roads. Kerameikos in ancient Athens was the burial place; may be today it’s one of the famous ancient cemeteries in the world. It was the place where Pericles pronounced his famous speech about the cohesion of Athenians after the first year of the Peloponnesian war.
Today the part of this ancient cemetery is restored. The place is quiet and you probably will not meet a lot of people here. Original monuments from Kerameikos were transferred to the National Archeological Museum of Athens and in place of them were installed their copies of high quality.
