The Sacred Way

The Sacred Way was the path in Ancient Greek times to the Eleusinian Mysteries. This route is not the exact path but approximately follows the Sacred Way from Kerameikos to Elefesina. Elefsina 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.

The original path of the Sacred Way is following many main and busy roads. This version avoids moest of these as much as possble.

Some words of advice from the famous writer Henry Miller from his book The Colossus of Maroussi when you want to walk the Sacred Way from Kerameikos to Eleusis:

"One should not race along the Sacred Way in a motor car - it is sacrilege. One should walk, walk as the men of old walked, and allow one's whole being to become flooded with light. This is not a Christian highway: it was made by the feet of devout pagans on their way to initiation at Eleusis. There is no suffering, no martyrdom, no flagellation of the flesh connected with this processional artery. Everything here speaks now, as it did centuries ago, of illumination, of blinding, joyous illumination. "