Ελληνικό Δίκτυο ΦΙΛΟΙ της ΦΥΣΗΣ
21
The road snaked through cultivated fields,
wooded expanses and the olive grove
(Elaionas). Elaionas was one of the dominant
features of the landscape west of Athens: a
real forest of olive trees flanking the Sacred
Way from the western outskirts of the city
to Aigaleo. Today, Elaionas corresponds to
the sparsely inhabited area between Piraeus
and Athinon Avenues, characterized by
de-industrialization, processing plants and
the recent Refugee Center next to Prophet
Daniel’s creek, a tributary of ancient Kifissos
River.
Walking across Elaionas, along the Sacred
Way, near Plato’s Academy, one could see
“Plato’s olive tree”. Oral history links it to
a tree existing today inside the adjacent
Agricultural University, where a stretch of
the ancient Sacred Way. The ancient road is
also visible in Aigaleo Metro Station (See
Page 39), and about one km of it can be
seen 12 km away, starting from Aphrodite’s
Sanctuary in Skaramangas, next to Athens
–Corinth National Road.
The Sacred Way – Hiera Odos,
the oldest historic road in
Greece, has always fascinated
foreign visitors. Sacred Way in
the cover of travel mag Le Tour
du Monde, featuring VOYAGE
EN GRECE, authored by French
diplomat Henri Belle (1874).
The Procession (and the Sacred Way) ended
in the external yard of Eleusis Sanctuary,
where it was received by the priests and
the uninitiated worshipers waiting there.
Nightlong dances in honour of Demeter were
held at Kallichoron Frear (a sacred well), while
the next day the second stage of initiation
was held at the Telestirion. The ritual still
remains unknown.
Places connected to the procession and can
be visited are:
Holy Church of Agios Savas the Consecrated (Votanikos area)
134 Hiera Odos (Sacred Way), Elaionas Metro Station,
210 3468289
Tradition has it that the small church was built by Byzantine Empress Theodosia, on top of an ancient
temple. “Between the Agricultural University and the old olive tree there used to be a temple of Demeter
and Persephone, where also Athena and Poseidon (Neptune) were worshiped. The initiated stopped there
on the way back from Eleusis, in order to reassemble and enter Athens.” (Ioanna Tsirigotis - Drakotou)