Kerameikos hadn’t been on my radar when I was researching things I might like to do in Athens but my hotel provided a handy map and list of things to do in the area that recommended the site so I decided to check it out and was very glad I did.
I will say upfront though that as it was still 29C in the later afternoon when I visited and there wasn’t much shade about I didn’t explore every inch of the place as I might otherwise have done. Named for the Greek word for pottery Kerameikos was a settlement of potters and vase painters before being converted into what would become the largest cemetery of ancient Athens.
It really does feel like a bit of a hidden gem – there was hardly anyone around when I was there and the route there, about 10 minutes walk north of the busy Monastiraki Square definitely started to thin out with the busy restaurants disappearing behind me and just one long mostly empty road until the entrance to the site.
Within the site are the ancient walls of Athens along with the Sacred Gate which was used by pilgrims during their annual procession and nearby was the gate that was the main entrance to the city.
Also on the site is the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, included in the entrance fee. Built in 1937 it houses many of the important pieces that were found on the site. Before the purpose built museum items from the archaeological days (first begun in 1863) were housed in a small outpost. This bull once stood on a pedestal in the middle of a grave enclosure to a man named Dionysios, son of Alphinos.
Other items that caught my eye included the funerary naiskos of sisters Demetria and Pamphile erected around 320 BC after Pamphile’s death. It was one of the last tombstones erected at the cemetery.
The version outside is a replica, the original having been moved into the museum to protect it from the elements.
Outside the museum was a nice place to sit in the shade – the museum itself is has only four rooms on a single floor so not very much air circulating. I enjoyed wandering around Kerameikos and it certainly struck me as somewhere that not a lot of other tourists venture. The entrance fee was €4.
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