Greece · Attica · Athens
Kerameikos, Athens — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Kerameikos is a former potters' quarter and burial ground on the northwest side of Athens, just beyond Thiseio and the line of the old city walls. Potters gave it its name. The English word ceramic descends from the workshops that once lined the banks of the Eridanos River here. Long overlooked, the neighborhood now draws visitors for its open archaeological site and for the late-night bars that spill across from neighboring Gazi.
About Kerameikos
Where to stay in Kerameikos
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Choosing Kerameikos means trading the crowds of Plaka for a grittier, quieter base within walking distance of everything central. Hotels are scarce here. Most are boutique hotels or rooms carved from converted neoclassical buildings, not a dense hotel district, so book early.
The payoff is the location, with the Ancient Agora and Thiseio's promenade ten minutes away on foot and the Acropolis a straightforward stroll east. Nights belong to the bar strip running into Gazi, so lighter sleepers may prefer the quieter streets toward Metaxourgeio.
About Kerameikos
What are the main landmarks in Kerameikos?
Its defining sight is the ancient Kerameikos. This open archaeological site spreads across both banks of the Eridanos River. Here the Dipylon Gate formed the main entrance to the classical city, and beside it the Sacred Gate opened onto the Sacred Way toward Eleusis.
Along that road lay the city's foremost cemetery. Carved funerary sculptures and grave stelai still line the ruins, marking the tombs of prominent Athenians and recalling the potters whose ceramics gave the district its name.
What is the history of Kerameikos?
Kerameikos took its name from the potters who settled along the Eridanos River in antiquity, working the clay from which the English word ceramic derives. The district lay partly inside and partly outside the ancient city walls, divided by the Dipylon Gate. Its outer ground followed the Sacred Way toward Eleusis and grew into the foremost burial ground of ancient Athens, where the dead were honored with elaborate carved monuments.
Then the river buried it. Over centuries the Eridanos silted the cemetery over, and the graves vanished beneath later building until excavation brought the gates and tombs back to light.
Where is Kerameikos?
The quarter sits northwest of the Acropolis. Thiseio lies to its south and Metaxourgeio to its north; Gazi and its old gasworks stand to the west, while Psyri's workshops begin to the east. The pedestrian stretch of Ermou Street runs down through it, past the fenced archaeological site and the buried course of the Eridanos River.
Its historic core straddles the old city walls at the Dipylon Gate.
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Updated July 2026