Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Sacred Gate

Gate in the city wall of Classical Athens

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The Sacred Gate (Greek: Ἱερὰ Πύλη, Hiera Pyle) was a gate in the city wall of Classical Athens, in the modern neighbourhood of Kerameikos. Its name derives from the Sacred Way that led from it to Eleusis, the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The site is uniquely well preserved for Athens, and shows clear evidence of the successive building phases from the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD. The Eridanos river passed through the gate in a channel.

Watch videos about Sacred GateExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Sacred Gate, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.