Eleusis

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Elefsina municipality
Δήμος Ελευσίνας (Ελευσίνα)
Eleusis (Greece)
Bluedot.svg
Basic data
State : GreeceGreece Greece
Region : Attica
Regional District : West Attica
Geographic coordinates : 38 ° 2 '  N , 23 ° 33'  E Coordinates: 38 ° 2 '  N , 23 ° 33'  E
Area : 37.06 km²
Residents : 29,902 (2011)
Population density : 806.9 inhabitants / km²
Community logo:
Community logo of Elefsina municipality
Seat: Elefsina
LAU-1 code no .: 5001
Districts : 2 parishes
Local self-government : f122 boroughs
f12
Website: www.elefsina.gr
Location in the Attica region
File: 2011 Dimos Elefsinas.png
f9 f8
View over the archaeological site of Eleusis

Eleusis ( ancient Greek Ἐλευσίς , modern Greek Ελευσίνα Elefsína ( f. Sg. )) Is a place about 30 km northwest of Athens . It gained its importance through the Mysteries of Eleusis , one of the important cults of ancient Greece . Today the city is a suburb of Athens under the name Elefsina.

Elefsina will be European Capital of Culture in 2021 together with Timișoara (Romania) and Novi Sad (Serbia) .

location

Eleusis is located on the north bank of the Saronic Gulf northwest of the Greek capital Athens in the Attica region . The European route 94 from Athens to Corinth runs through the town. To the north lie the Mandra and Magoula , in the northeast the Thrias Plain with Aspropyrgos .

On the western outskirts of the city is the largest oil refinery in Greece, in the east of Athens the closest military airfield of the Greek Air Force .

The port of Eleusis is used as a ship cemetery ; many owners of the 30 or so ships, some of which have been lying here for decades, can no longer be identified.

Mandra
Neos Peramos Neighboring communities Aspropyrgos
Gulf of Salamis

Excavations

The archaeological site of Eleusis is located on a 63 m high rock with a modern clock tower on top. The first systematic excavations took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries under the direction of D. Philios, A. Skias and Konstantinos Kourouniotis . In the 1930s and 1950s they were continued by George E. Mylonas and Ioannis Travlos . Most of the ruins date from Roman times. Numerous buildings were erected, especially under the emperors Hadrian and Marc Aurel . The head of a kore, excavated in 1882, is in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

The Propylaea , which was modeled on those of the Athenian Acropolis, is entered via a forecourt . A grotto in the rock, the Ploutonion , was considered the gateway to Hades . The most important building of the place of worship was the Telesterion , a large temple that originally dates back to around 600 BC. BC and has been expanded several times. His holiest of holies was the anaktoron , in which the sacred cult objects were kept. There is an archaeological museum on the edge of the excavation site.

structure

The municipality of Elefsina is divided into two municipal and urban districts (population figures from 2011):

  • Elefsina municipality (Δημοτική Ενότητα Ελευσίνος)
    • Elefsina district (Δημοτική Κοινότητα Ελευσίνος, Ελευσίνα) - 24,685
  • Magoula municipality (Δημοτική Ενότητα Μαγούλας)
    • Magoula District (Δημοτική Κοινότητα Μαγούλας) - 5,179
      • Magoula (Μαγούλα) - 4,923
      • Neos Pondos (Νέος Πόντος) - 256

Military airfield

The military airfield ( ICAO : LGEL ), which is north of Elefsina, was built in 1946. The asphalt runway with an orientation of 18/36 is 2,739 m long. The military airfield is 44 m (143 ft) above sea level . World icon

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Eleusis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Results of the 2011 census at the National Statistical Service of Greece (ΕΛ.ΣΤΑΤ) ( Memento from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (Excel document, 2.6 MB)
  2. ^ Salzburger Nachrichten: Elefsina in Greece European Capital of Culture 2021 ; queried on November 11, 2016