Elefsina

 ( Municipalities Of Attica ) 

It is 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 everything except the celebration of the mysteries, of which they were to continue to have the management. Eleusis afterwards became an Attic deme, but in consequence of its sacred character it was allowed to retain the title of polis (πόλις) 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.

The Great Eleusian relief which was famous in antiquity and was copied in the Roman period, is the largest and most important votive relief found and dates to 440-430 BC. It represents the Eleusinian deities in a scene depicting a mysterious ritual. On the left Demeter, clad in a peplos and holding a sceptre in her left hand, offers ears of wheat to Triptolemos, son of Eleusinian king Keleos, to bestow on mankind. On the right Persephone, clad in chiton and mantle and holding a torch, blesses Triptolemos with her right hand. The original marble relief was found at the sanctuary of Demeter, the site of the Eleusinian mysteries. A number of Roman copies also survive.Gisela M. A. Richter. “A Roman Copy of the Eleusinian Relief.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 30, no. 11, 1935, pp. 216–221. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3255443

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 (384 – 322 BC) alludes to inundations at Eleusis;Demosthenes, c. Callicl. p. 1279.

Pausanias () has left us only a very brief description of Eleusis;

Under the Roman Greece Eleusis enjoyed great prosperity, as initiation into its mysteries became fashionable among the Roman nobles.

Hadrian was initiated into the Mysteries in about 125Eusebius: Chronicle and raised embankments in the plain of the river in consequence of a flood which occurred while he was spending the winter at Athens.Euseb. Chron. p. 81

To the same emperor most likely Eleusis was indebted for a supply of good water by means of the aqueduct, completed in about 160 AD. Apart from satisfying the need for drinking water, it also enabled the construction of public fountains and baths. It was fed by springs in Mount Parnitha and used mainly underground tunnels. It crossed the Thriasian Plain and turned abruptly towards the south at the outskirts of Eleusis. The best visible remains are on the east side of Dimitros Street.

It was destroyed by Alaric I in 396 AD, and from that time disappears from history.

During its long history, the temple underwent subsequent building phases. Much of that visible today is of the Classical era (5th century BC). Its portico of 12 columns was added in the time of Demetrius Phalereus, about 318 BC, by the architect Philo.Plutarch Per. 13. When finished, it was considered one of the four finest examples of Grecian architecture in marble.

Modifications were also carried out in Roman times (2nd c. AD).

The Roman bridge that carried the ancient Sacred Way over the Kephissus river is visible about 1 km from the Sanctuary of Demeter. The bridge is in very good condition and is an outstanding example of ancient bridge building. It consists of a central 30 m-long main bridge with 4 arches and 10 m-long sloping access on either side.

The Sacred Way was the main road from Athens and led to Demeter's sanctuary, and was also the road used by the procession every year of the celebration of the Great Mysteries escorting the sacred objects back to Eleusis. Its course is visible in some places and has been accurately traced by rescue excavations and ran parallel to its namesake in the modern city only a few metres to the south. Roadside cemeteries from different periods throughout antiquity are found next to it and prehistoric graves witness its existence by 1600 BC. During the Hellenistic and mainly Roman eras the road was used for the exhibition of wealth and social power, with costly burial monuments being erected all along it. The road was in use until at least the 6th century AD.

Arvanitika is still spoken in the village, with the locals qualifying their dialect more "noble" and "refined" than those of rural Arvanites.Adamou E. & Drettas G. 2008, Slave, Le patrimoine plurilingue de la Grèce – Le nom des langues II, E. Adamou (éd.), BCILL 121, Leuven, Peeters, p.56. Many Greek families of Anatolia 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.

During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1945), strong resistance developed within the city, the factories and the military airport, which once stationed Squadron 80, the squadron that Roald Dahl