ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ ΧΑΪΔΑΡΙ - ΣΥΝΑΝΤΗΣΗ ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ | Page 69

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conducted excavations along the ancient road.
A traveller from Athens to Eleusina would first see
several burial monuments and then come across the
large olive grove of Kephisos that spread up to Chaidari
and had been preserved until the mid-19th century. After
more burial monuments followed the Lakiades deme,
today the Agricultural School of the University of Athens.
A subsequent sanctuary, mainly devoted to Demeter and
assumingly under the Athenian Paper-making factory
today, must have been connected to the Eleusinian cult
as a procession stop on the way back to Athens.
Then the traveller crossed Kephisos river, which ran
about 1200 m east of the modern riverbed, via a stone
bridge. There, procession initiates and outside visitors
teased each other. The same happened at the junction
of the Eleusinian branch of the river with the Sacred Way,
just before the final destination of the procession. An
altar to Zeus connected to Theseus and several burial
monuments mentioned by Pausanias have not been
traced, but the modern Agios Savvas church preserves
ancient spolia.
A small temple called «of Kyamitos» is at the
crossroads with modern Proussis Street in Aigaleo, at the
site of Agios Georgios church. The area includes many
excavated cemeteries, spanning from the 8th century
BC to the Late Roman period. Especially noted are two
burial enclosures opposite the Dromokaiteio Psychiatry,
one Roman and one dating to the 4th century BC. A
super-natural sized hand from a marble statue probably
belongs to a monumental base located close by. Thus,
the Dromokaiteion area hosted important Classical and
Hellenistic monuments.
The burial monument of Pythionike
on the Prophitis Ilias hill
The cenotaph commissioned by the Macedonian Arpalos
in honour of his wife Pythionike was the most impressive
monument in Chaidari. Arpalos was a friend of Alexander
the Great and treasurer in Babylon. When Arpalos was
prosecuted for conspicuous spending, he found refuge in
Athens and spent 2.5 million drachmas on the cenotaph
of the then dead Pythionike. Arpalos had built Pythionike
an imposing tomb in Babylon too, while he also
commisioned an altar, dedicated to the cult of Aphrodite
Pythionike.
The monument probably stood on the hill of Prophitis
Ilias, although there is no supportive material evidence
yet. Its form is unknown since written sources do not
describe the monument itself, but only the authors’
impressions.
According to Kampouroglou the blocks of the monument
were burnt into a large local Frankish or Ottoman lime
kiln, used by the Daphni monks. The kiln preserved
remains of sculpted pieces. The non-existent monument
triggered the imagination of modern travellers too, such
as the French scholar, doctor and historian and traveller
François Pouqueville (1770-1838).
The sanctuary of Apollo in Daphni
West of the Pythionike monument Pausanias came
across the sanctuary of Apollon. It accommodated
statues of Demeter and Kore. According to tradition,
Kephalos, the mythical founder of Kephallonia, sacrifised
to Apollon upon this spot on his return from exile.
The sanctuary was one of the most important stops of
the Eleusinian procession. According to an inscription
in the theatre of Dionysus in Athens, Apollon was
worshipped as Daphnephoros (laurel-bearer) and
Pausanias reports only one such sanctuary in Attica.
Perhaps it was the one located in the area of Daphni,
within the Byzantine monastery. It probably included
a colonnaded edifice. Three columns were removed
by Lord Elgin and are exhibited today in the British
Museum. Pouqueville attempted to trace the temple and
Kampouroglou reported the finding of sculpture, today in
exhibition in the monastery.
The architectural form of the sanctuary is completely
unknown, but the number of the reported statues and the
many column parts suggest at least two temples, or a
temple and a stoa. There was an ashlar enclosure wall,
which was re-used for the Byzantine fortification of the
monastery. It is possible that the threshold of the east