ELEUSIS, an ancient city of Greece about 14 m. W. of Athens, on a rocky ridge close to the shore of the bay of the same name opposite the island of Salamis. Its fame is due to its Mysteries (see MYSTERY). Tradition carries back its origin to the highest antiquity. In earlier history it seems to have been independent of Athens. Of its small territory the plain of Thria was fertile, though swept by blighting winds. To the west was the Rharian Plain, where Demeter is said to have sown the first seeds of corn; and the field called Orgas, planted with trees consecrated to Demeter and Persephone. The sacred buildings were destroyed by Alaric in A.D. 396. The present village (Lefsina or Lepsina, officially 'EX€vo is) is Albanian.
In front of the main entrance is a paved area, with the temple of Artemis Propylaea of Roman date; on each side of the Great Propylaea stood a Roman triumphal arch. Just below the steps of the Propylaea, on the left, a curb surrounding an early well marks almost certainly the KaXXL opov / piap mentioned by Pausanias. The Great Propylaea is of Roman imperial date, set in a wall of 6th-century work, repaired in later times, which encloses an outer court, of irregular shape. The Small Propylaea, not set exactly opposite to the Great Propylaea, was built by Appius Claudius Pulcher, the contemporary of Cicero. It is in a later wall which, like two earlier ones of the 6th and 5th centuries, bounded the inner precinct. Thence a paved road of Roman date leads to one of the doors of the Telesterion. Above the Small Propylaea, partly set beneath the overhanging rock, is the pre cinct of Pluto ; it has a curious natural cleft approached by rock cut steps. Here was found the famous head, now in Athens, usually called Eubouleus. Farther on a rock-cut platform ap proached by broad steps probably served for spectators. Beyond this, on higher ground, close to the side of the Telesterion, stood a small temple, unidentified.
The Telesterion (Hall of Initiation) was a large covered build ing, about 170 ft. square, surrounded on all sides by steps partly cut in the solid rock, which served as seats for the mystae, while the sacred rites took place on the floor. There were two doors on each `side of the hall, except the north-west, where it is cut out of the solid rock, and a rock terrace at a higher level adjoins it. The roof was carried by rows of columns, more than once renewed.
The architectural history of the hall has been traced with the help of various foundations. The earliest building was small, rectangular, of polygonal masonry, quarried on the spot. This was succeeded by a square hall, almost of the same plan as the later Telesterion, but about a quarter of the size; its eastern corner coincides with that of the later building, and it had a portico in front and internal columns. This has been assigned to the time of Peisistratus; was destroyed by the Persians and partly rebuilt soon after; only to be replaced by the much larger Periclean hall designed by Ictinus, with projecting foundations for a portico or for angle buttresses, to resist the thrust of the roof. This hall is faced with a portico which was designed by the architect Philo (c. 30o B.c.) ; the marble pavement is a most conspicuous feature.
The Telesterion took up the greater part of the sacred precinct, and the massive walls and fortress towers of the time of Pericles are quite close to it ; later the precinct was extended to the south, and at its end was erected a building, probably the Bouleuterion, rebuilt in Roman times. The precinct was full of altars, dedica tions and inscriptions. Its subterranean passages are nothing but cisterns or watercourses.
The excavations of Eleusis, and the antiquities found in them, have been published from time to time by the Greek Archaeological Society. See also D. Philios, Eleusis, ses mysteres, ses ruines, et son musee. Inscriptions in Bulletin de correspondance hellenique.