ΟΔΗΓΟΣ ΔΥΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΣ ΟΔΗΓΟΣ - ΔΥΤΙΚΗ ΑΘΗΝΑ ΑΤΤΙΚΗ | Page 21

Ελληνικό Δίκτυο ΦΙΛΟΙ της ΦΥΣΗΣ 19 C ULTURAL ROUTE 1 Trace of ancient Sacred Way, Estavromenos Square, “Aigaleo” Metro station. Along the Sacred Way: Traces of Antiquity in the contemporary landscape all the way to Eleusis This is one of the oldest roads in Greece, with its existence going back to the Mycenaean period and coinciding with the start of Demeter’s (Ceres) worship, dating according to most historians in the 11 th century BCE. The route from Athens to Eleusis was about 19 km, and is a route you can still walk. Starting from the Sacred Gate in Kerameikos, the road was adorned by burial monuments and sanctuaries like the one dedicated to Aphrodite in Skaramangas. During Byzantine times many of these sites were turned into churches, like Agios Savas and the Daphni Monastery.