Kerameikos

We stopped for lunch with a kebab wrap from a small cafe. We'd stopped just on the edge of Kerameikos, the cemetery of ancient Greece. We were tired and hot and due to get back for the evening's concert so thought we'd have a peak and leave early. However on approaching the scale is immediately obvious. Once again an archaeological site has surprised us. This was another of the sites including in our €30 ticket and once inside we were given some advice by a curator and walked down into the remains of a vast ancient cemetery. But what is key here is that the cemetery was cut in two by the city walls. And a fragment of that wall is shown here. What is so special is this wall, as you might notice, has different layers. That is because the wall was rebuilt at many points during the height of Athenian history. Each layer corresponds to key moments. The most touching is the bottom layer, see the insert, where the blocks we made cheaply from other smaller rocks. This is possibly because of the urgency as a threat approached. Once again Athens surprises.