Coordinates: 38°2′N 23°32′E

Eleusis
Eleusis (Greek: Ελευσίνα Elefsina, Ancient Greek: Ἐλευσίς Eleusis) is
a town and municipality in West Attica Regional unit in Greece. It is Eleusis
situated about 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest from the centre of Ελευσίνα
Athens and is part of its Metropolitan area. It is located in the Thriasian
Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Eleusis are
Mandra and Magoula, while Aspropyrgos is to the northeast.

It is the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the birthplace of Aeschylus.

Today, Eleusis is a major industrial centre, with the largest oil refinery
in Greece as well as the home of the Aeschylia Festival, the longest-
lived arts event in the Attica Region.

On 11 November 2016 Eleusis was named the European Capital of

Culture for 2021.
View over the excavation site towards
Eleusis.
Contents
Etymology
Municipality
History
Ancient Eleusis
Mythology and Proto-history
Eleusinian Mysteries
Secular history
Medieval and early Modern era
Modern Elefsina
Aeschylia Festival Location within the region

Climate
European temperature record
Hospitals and medical centres
Historical population
Sports
Notable people
Twin towns
Coordinates: 38°2′N 23°32′E
Gallery
See also Country Greece
Administrative Attica
References region
External links Regional unit West Attica
Government
• Mayor Argyris Oikonomou
Etymology Area
• Municipality 36.589 km2
(14.127 sq mi)
• Municipal unit 18.455 km2
The word Eleusis first appears at the Orphic hymn «Δήμητρος (7.126 sq mi)
Ελευσινίας, θυμίαμα στύρακα[2]». Also Hesychius of Alexandria Highest elevation 5 m (16 ft)
reports that the older name for Eleusis was Saesara (Σαισάρια). Saesara Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
was the mythic daughter of Celeus (king of Eleusis when Demeter
arrived for the first time) and granddaughter of Eleusinus, the first Population (2011)[1]
settler of Eleusis.[3] • Municipality 29,902
• Municipality 820/km2
density (2,100/sq mi)
Municipality • Municipal unit 24,901
• Municipal unit 1,300/km2
The municipality Elefsina was formed at the 2011 local government density (3,500/sq mi)
reform by the merger of the following two former municipalities, that Time zone UTC+2 (EET)
became municipal units:[4] • Summer (DST) UTC+3 (EEST)

Elefsina Postal code 192 00

Area code(s) 210
Magoula
Website www.eleusina.gr (htt
The municipality has an area of 36.589 km2, the municipal unit p://www.eleusina.gr/)
18.455 km2.[5]

History

Ancient

Eleusis was a deme of ancient Attica, belonging to the phyle Hippothoöntis. It

Marble sarcophagus with a relief
about the hunt of the Calydonian
boar on its main face (2nd century
AD), in the Archaeological Museum
of Eleusis.
owed its celebrity to its being the chief seat of the worship of Demeter and
Persephone, and to the mysteries celebrated in honour of these goddesses,
which were called the Eleusinia, and continued to be regarded as the most
sacred of all the Grecian mysteries down to the fall of paganism.
Eleusis stood upon a height at a short distance from the sea, and opposite the
island of Salamis.[6] Its situation possessed three natural advantages. It was on
the road from Athens to the Isthmus of Corinth; it was in a very fertile plain;
and it was at the head of an extensive bay, formed on three sides by the coast of
Attica, and shut in on the south by the island of Salamis. The town itself dates
from the most ancient times.

Mythology and Proto-history

It appears to have derived its name from the supposed advent (ἔλευσις) of Demeter, though some traced its name from
an eponymous hero Eleusis.[7] It was one of the 12 independent states into which Attica was said to have been
originally divided.[8] It was related that in the reign of Eumolpus, king of Eleusis, and Erechtheus, king of Athens, there
was a war between the two states, in which the Eleusinians were defeated, whereupon they agreed to acknowledge the
supremacy of Athens in every thing except the celebration of the mysteries, of which they were to continue to have the
management.[9][10] Eleusis afterwards became an Attic deme, but in consequence of its sacred character it was allowed
to retain the title of polis (πόλις)[11][7] and to coin its own money, a privilege possessed by no other town in Attica,
except Athens. The history of Eleusis is part of the history of Athens. Once a year the great Eleusinian procession
travelled from Athens to Eleusis, along the Sacred Way.

Eleusinian Mysteries

Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore, which became popular in the
Greek speaking world as early as 600 BC, attracted initiates during Roman Empire before declining mid-late 4th
century AD.[12] These Mysteries revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after death for those who were
initiated. Such a belief was cultivated from the introduction ceremony in which the hopeful initiates were shown a
number of things including the seed of life in a stalk of grain. The
central myth of the Mysteries was Demeter's quest for her lost
daughter (Kore the Maiden, or Persephone) who had been abducted by
Hades. It was here that Demeter, disguised as an old lady who was
abducted by pirates in Crete, came to an old well where the four
daughters of the local king Keleos and his queen Metaneira (Kallidike,
Kleisidike, Demo and Kallithoe) found her and took her to their palace
to nurse the son of Keleos and Metaneira, Demophoon. Demeter raised
Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia, until Metaneira
found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her
disguise, and, in all her glory, instructed Meteneira to build a temple to
Roman relief with inscription and wheat
her. Keleos, informed the next morning by Metaneira, ordered the decorations from the archeological site
citizens to build a rich shrine to Demeter, where she sat in her temple
until the lot of the world prayed to Zeus to make the world provide
food again.

Secular history

During the Greco-Persian Wars, the ancient temple of Demeter at

Eleusis was burnt by the Persians in 484 BC;[13] and it was not till the
administration of Pericles that an attempt was made to rebuild it.
When the power of the Thirty Tyrants was overthrown after the
Peloponnesian War, they retired to Eleusis, which they had secured
beforehand, but where they maintained themselves for only a short
time.[14] Under the Romans Eleusis enjoyed great prosperity, as
initiation into its mysteries became fashionable among the Roman
nobles. It was destroyed by Alaric I in 396 CE, and from that time Room inside the archeological museum of
disappears from history. Eleusis.

Pausanias has left us only a very brief description of Eleusis;[15]

The Eleusinians have a temple of Triptolemus, another of Artemis Propylaea, and a third of Poseidon the
Father, and a well called Callichorum, where the Eleusinian women first instituted a dance and sang in
honour of the goddess. They say that the Rharian plain was the first place in which corn was sown and first
produced a harvest, and that hence barley from this plain is employed for making sacrificial cakes. There
the so-called threshing-floor and altar of Triptolemus are shown. The things within the wall of the Hierum
[i.e., the temple of Demeter] a dream forbade me to describe.

The Rharian plain is also mentioned in the Homeric Hymn to Artemis;[16] it appears to have been in the neighbourhood
of the city; but its site cannot be determined.

The temple of Demeter itself, sometimes called ὁ μυστικὸς σηκός, or τὸ τελεστήριον, was the largest in all Greece, and
is described by Strabo as capable of containing as many persons as a theatre.[17] The plan of the building was designed
by Ictinus, the architect of the Parthenon at Athens; but it was many years before it was completed, and the names of
several architects are preserved who were employed in building it. Its portico of 12 columns was not built till the time
of Demetrius Phalereus, about 318 BC, by the architect Philo.[17][18] When finished, it was considered one of the four
finest examples of Grecian architecture in marble. It faced the southeast.

The town of Eleusis and its immediate neighbourhood were exposed to inundations from the river Cephissus, which,
though almost dry during the greater part of the year, is sometimes swollen to such an extent as to spread itself over a
large part of the plain. Demosthenes alludes to inundations at Eleusis;[19] and Hadrian raised some embankments in the
plain in consequence of an inundation which occurred while he was spending the winter at Athens.[20] To the same
emperor most likely Eleusis was indebted for a supply of good water by means of the aqueduct, the ruins of which are
still seen stretching across the plain from Eleusis in a north-easterly direction.
Medieval and early Modern era

It is indicative that writers of the Byzantine era refer to it as a "small village",

and shortly before the Ottoman domination the area was deserted by wars, raids
and captives. During this period was settled by Arvanites. European travelers
during the Ottoman domination described Eleusis as having few inhabitants and
many ancient ruins.

Modern Elefsina
The Paleo-Christian Church of Agios
In 1829 after the Greek War of Independence, Eleusis was a small settlement of Zacharias, rumored to be the only
about 250 inhabitants. By the late 19th century Eleusis changed drastically as one in Greece dedicated to that
saint.
new buildings were erected by the new merchant settlers. Also during that
period Eleusis became one of the main industrial centers of the Modern Greek
State with concrete factory TITAN, Charilaou Soap Factory as well as the
distilleries of Botrys and Kronos being established in the area.[21]

Many Greek families of Asia Minor settled in Elefsina after the 1922 Asia
Minor Catastrophe and created the settlement of Upper Elefsina, doubling its
total population and enriching the region culturally and economically.[22]

During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1945), strong resistance developed The old factory of Kronos at the
within the city, the factories and the military airport, which once stationed seafront of Eleusis.
Squadron 80, the squadron that Roald Dahl[23] was assigned to in the RAF.
After World War II, workers from all parts of Greece moved to Elefsina to work
in the industries in the region. Industrial activity, however, developed
anarchically on the antiquities and next to the residential area.

Environmental pollution has taken on large dimensions. During the 20st

century, at the time of sustainable development, archaeological discoveries and
industrial formation shaped the image of contemporary Eleusis.

In 1962 a large house of priests from the Roman era was discovered. Pollution
thanks to citizens' struggles gradually has fallen.
View of the lower area of the town
from the hill of the archeological site.
Today, the city has become a suburb of Athens, to which it is linked by the
Motorway 6 and Greek National Road 8. Eleusina is nowadays a major
industrial area, and the place where the majority of crude oil in Greece is
imported and refined. The largest refinery is located on the west side of town, right beside where the annual Aeschylia
Festival is held in honor of the great tragic poet Aeschylus.

There is a military airport a few kilometers east of Eleusis. Eleusis Airfield played a crucial role in the final British
evacuation during the 1941 Battle of Greece, as recounted by Roald Dahl in his autobiography Going Solo.

Eleusis is home to the football club Panelefsiniakos F.C., and the basketball club Panelefsiniakos B.C.

Aeschylia Festival
Established in 1975 the Aeschylia Festival in Eleusis in Western Attica is the currently the longest standing cultural
event organized by an Attica Municipality. It is annually held at "Palaio Elaiourgeio" a former soap factory by the
seafront now transformed to function as an open theatre. The Festival is usually running at the end of August and
during all of the September. The event is organized in honor of the tragic poet Aeschylus, who was born in Eleusis,
from whom it also derives its name. It includes stage productions,art exhibitions and installations,concerts and dance
events.

Climate
The Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) weather station of Eleusis has an average maximum July
temperature of 33.0 °C (1958–2001 HNMS)[24] The Eleusis phenomenon is not yet completely understood; however,
factors of geomorphology, warm water masses in the summer and warm winds might be responsible for its summer
climate.[24] According to Kassomenos and Katsoulis (2006), based on 12 years of data (1990–2001), the
industrialization of west Attica, where at least 40% of the industrial activity of the country is concentrated, could be the
cause of the warm climate of the zone.[25] According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Eleusis has a hot-
summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.[26]

Climate data for Elefsina, Greece (1958–1997)

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average 13.0 13.6 15.8 20.1 25.7 30.6 32.9 32.7 28.9 23.2 18.5 14.7 22.5
high °C (°F) (55.4) (56.5) (60.4) (68.2) (78.3) (87.1) (91.2) (90.9) (84.0) (73.8) (65.3) (58.5) (72.5)

Average low 5.4 5.6 7.1 10.1 14.9 19.5 22.3 22.2 18.8 14.6 10.4 7.2 13.2
°C (°F) (41.7) (42.1) (44.8) (50.2) (58.8) (67.1) (72.1) (72.0) (65.8) (58.3) (50.7) (45.0) (55.7)

Average
48.4 40.1 39.3 26.7 19.5 8.4 5.5 5.4 11.3 41.6 58.8 67.9 372.9
precipitation
(1.91) (1.58) (1.55) (1.05) (0.77) (0.33) (0.22) (0.21) (0.44) (1.64) (2.31) (2.67) (14.68)
mm (inches)

Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service[27]

European temperature record

Eleusis is one of the two Athenian suburbs (the other one is Tatoi) with the highest ever officially recorded temperature
in Europe according to the World Meteorological Organization of 48.0 °C (118.4 °F), on 10 July 1977, by the use of
minimum-maximum thermometers.[28]

Hospitals and medical centres

Eleusis has only one general hospital the Thriassio General Hospital, located 3.9 km north of the city centre.

Historical population
Year Municipal unit Municipality
1981 20,320 -
1991 22,793 -
2001 25,863 -
2011 24,901 29,902

Sports Elefsina municipality within West

Attica.

Eleusina hosts the multi-sport club Panelefsiniakos with successful sections in

football and basketball. Another historical club of Eleusina is Iraklis Eleusis,
founded in 1928.

Notable sport clubs based in Eleusis

Club Sports Founded Achievements
Earlier presence in Gamma
Iraklis Eleusis Football 1928
Ethniki
Football 1931 Earlier presence in A Ethniki
Panelefsiniakos Elefsina municipal unit.
Basketball 1969 Earlier presence in A1 Ethniki
 O.K.E. Basketball 1996

Notable people
Aeschylus (c. 525 BC/524 BC – c. 456 BC/455 BC), playwright and
veteran of the Battle of Marathon
Theodoros Pangalos (1878–1952), general
Stelios Kazantzidis (1931–2001), singer
Vasilis Laskos (1899–1943), commander of submarine Katsonis, a hero of
the Second World War
Orestis Laskos (1908–1992), director, screenwriter and actor
Vangelis Liapis (1914–2008), scholar and folklorist
Theodoros Pangalos (1938– ), politician
Alexandros Kontoulis, military officer
Ioannis Kalitzakis (1966- ), footballer
Katerina Mouriki (1951-), children's novelist
Panagiotis Lafazanis (1951-), politician
Herma of Aeschylus
(Aischylos). Roman bust from
Twin towns the time around 30 BC after
Greek bronze herma from the
Eleusis is twinned with: years 340-320 BC. Naples
National Archaeological
Gela, Italy [29] Museum.

Gallery
The upper part of Ruins of the Part of the ancient Ruins of the East
one of the caryatids Telesterion at the walls Triumphal Arch by
that flanked the Sanctuary of Antoninus Pius,
Lesser Propylaea of Demeter in Eleusis archaeological site
the sanctuary of with view to the
Demeter and Kore modern town
at Eleusis.

Cuirassed bust of Funerary Proto-Attic Saint George's

Marcus Aurelius, Amphora with a Cathedral
archaeological site depiction of the
blinding of
Polyphemus by
Odysseus and his
companions, 670-
660 BC, Eleusis
Museum

See also
Archaeological Museum of Eleusis
Persephone
Demeter
Megara

References
1. "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011. ΜΟΝΙΜΟΣ Πληθυσμός" (http://www.statistics.gr/documents/2
0181/1210503/resident_population_census2011rev.xls) (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority.
2. Δήμητρος Ελευσινίας - Βικιθήκη (https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%94%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B7%
CF%84%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%95%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%
BD%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82) [Orphic hymns / Demetrios Eleusinia]. el.wikisource.org (in Greek).
Retrieved 31 July 2018.
3. "Eleusis – Greek Mythology Link" (http://www.maicar.com/GML/Eleusis.html). www.maicar.com.
Retrieved 31 July 2018.
 4. "Kallikratis law" (http://www.kedke.gr/uploads2010/FEKB129211082010_kallikratis.pdf) (PDF). Greece
Ministry of Interior (in Greek). 11 August 2010.
5. "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (https://web.archive.org/web/2015
0921212047/http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_00098%20.pdf) (PDF) (in Greek). National
Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (http://dlib.statistics.gr/Book/GRESYE_02_0101_
00098%20.pdf) (PDF) on 21 September 2015.
6. Gardner, Ernest Arthur (1911). "Eleusis" (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Brit
annica/Eleusis). In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University
Press. p. 262.
7. Pausanias. Description of Greece (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=paus.+1.38.7&redirect=
true). 1.38.7.
8. Strabo. Geographica. ix. p.397. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
9. Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. 2.15.
10. Pausanias. Description of Greece (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=paus.+1.38.3&redirect=
true). 1.38.3.
11. Strabo. Geographica. ix. p.395. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
12. Florin Curta; Andrew Holt (28 November 2016). Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal
Events in Religious History (https://books.google.com/books?id=dgF9DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64). ABC-
CLIO. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-61069-566-4.
13. Herodotus. Histories. 9.65.
14. Xenophon. Hellenica. 2.4.8, et seq.; 2.4.43.
15. Pausanias. Description of Greece (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=paus.+1.38.6&redirect=
true). 1.38.6.
16. Homeric Hymn to Artemis 450
17. Strabo. Geographica. ix. p. 395. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
18. Plutarch Per. 13.
19. Demosthenes, c. Callicl. p. 1279.
20. Euseb. Chron. p. 81
21. "History of the town of Eleusis" (http://www.eleusina.gr/history/syntomo_istoriko.aspx?sflang=en).
22. "Museum of Greeks of Minor Asia" (http://www.arxeion-politismou.gr/2017/12/Mouseio-Istorias-Laografia
s-SYllogou-Mikrasiaton-Elefsinas.html).
23. Dahl, Roald (1986). Going Solo (https://books.google.com/books?id=dImS-_HRoQAC&pg=PA128).
Cape. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-224-02407-5.
24. "Hellenic Petroleum Refinery Upgrade – Environmental Impact Assessment" (https://www.eib.org/attach
ments/pipeline/20090584_eia_el.pdf) (PDF). European Investment Bank (in Greek). 14 June 2007.
Retrieved 28 August 2019.
25. Kassomenos, P. A.; Katsoulis, B. D. (31 July 2006). "Mesoscale and macroscale aspects of the morning
Urban Heat Island around Athens, Greece". Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics. 94 (1–4): 209–218.
doi:10.1007/s00703-006-0191-x (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00703-006-0191-x). ISSN 0177-7971 (http
s://www.worldcat.org/issn/0177-7971).
26. "Elefsína, Greece Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)" (http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/
weather-summary.php3?s=592006&cityname=Elefs%EF%BF%BDna,+Attica,+Greece&units=).
Weatherbase.
27. "Climatological Information for Elefsina, Greece" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110716052439/http://ww
w.hnms.gr/hnms/english/climatology/climatology_region_diagrams_html?dr_city=Elefsina). Hellenic
National Meteorological Service. 16 July 2011. Archived from the original (http://www.hnms.gr/hnms/engli
sh/climatology/climatology_region_diagrams_html?dr_city=Elefsina) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved
28 August 2019.
28. "WMO Region VI (Europe, Continent only): Highest Temperature" (https://wmo.asu.edu/content/europe-hi
ghest-temperature). World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
29. "eleusis 2021" (https://eleusis2021.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ELEUSIS21_BID_BOOK_2016_ENG
_outline.pdf) (PDF). p. 16.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857).
"Eleusis". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
External links
Official website (http://www.eleusina.gr/) (in English and Greek)

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