Kerameikos

Kerameikos is the ancient cemetery and pottery district of Athens. The name derives from the Greek kerameion, meaning potter’s field. The site lies northwest of the Acropolis, near the city’s old western boundary and the Dipylon Gate, and it encompasses both the city’s potters’ workshops and its principal public graveyard.

During the Archaic and Classical periods, Kerameikos functioned as Athens’ main pottery quarter, producing terracotta wares and monumental grave markers. The cemetery contains thousands of burials and a rich collection of stele and grave markers, many inscribed with epitaphs, numbers of citizens, and civic details. Notable finds include the Dipylon Amphora, a large 8th-century BCE funerary vase associated with the cemetery, and a wide range of inscriptions that illuminate Attic funerary practices, citizenship, and public memory. The site also preserves sections of the ancient boundary walls and the Dipylon Gate.

Excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries revealed the layout of the workshop quarter and the cemetery, providing crucial evidence for the urban and social history of ancient Athens. Today Kerameikos is an open-air archaeological park with visible remains of walls, gate structures, and monumental grave markers. A on-site museum houses artifacts recovered from the site, including grave markers, pottery, and inscriptions, making Kerameikos an important source for understanding Athenian daily life, funerary customs, and the city’s historical landscape.