Pompeion

The Pompeion was a multi-purpose civic building in the ancient Kerameikos cemetery district of Athens, erected around 400 BCE between the Dipylon Gate and the Sacred Gate. Its name comes from the great Pompe, the ceremonial procession of the Panathenaia, which started here and moved up the Sacred Way to the Acropolis. Inside, festival carts, sacrificial offerings and the famous peplos robe for Athena were prepared. Later the hall also served as a public palaestra where young Athenians trained in wrestling and gymnastics. In 86 BCE Sulla destroyed the complex during the Roman siege of Athens. Today visitors at the Kerameikos site see the foundations, a courtyard with column bases and adjoining fountain works. The neighbouring Kerameikos Museum displays small finds and grave reliefs from the area.