In front of the main entrance of the precinct is a large paved area,
with the foundations of a temple in it, usually identified as that of
Artemis Propylaea; in their present form both area and temple date from
Roman times; and on each side of the Great Propylaea are the foundations
of a Roman triumphal arch. Just below the steps of the Propylaea, on the
left as one enters, there has been discovered, at a lower level than the
Roman pavement, the curb surrounding an early well. This is almost
certainly the [Greek: kallichoron phrear] mentioned by Pausanias. The
Great Propylaea is a structure of Roman imperial date, in close
imitation of the Propylaea on the Athenian Acropolis. It is, however,
set in a wall of 6th-century work, though repaired in later times. This
wall encloses a sort of outer court, of irregular triangular shape. The
Small Propylaea is not set exactly opposite to the Great Propylaea, but
at an angle to it; an inscription on the architrave records that it was
built by Appius Claudius Pulcher, the contemporary of Cicero. It is also
set in a later wall that occupies approximately the same position as two
earlier ones, which date from the 6th and 5th centuries respectively,
and must have indicated the boundary of the inner precinct. From the
Small Propylaea 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 precinct of Pluto; it has a curious natural
cleft approached by rock-cut steps. Several inscriptions and other
antiquities were found here, including the famous head, now in Athens,
usually called Eubouleus, though the evidence for its identification is
far from satisfactory. A little farther on is a rock-cut platform, with
a well, approached by a broad flight of steps, which probably served for
spectators of the sacred procession. Beyond this, close to the side of
the Telesterion, are the foundations of a temple on higher ground; it
has been conjectured that this was the temple of Demeter, but there is
no evidence that such a building existed in historic times, apart from
the Telesterion.
The Telesterion, or Hall of Initiation, was a large covered building,
about 170 ft. square. It was surrounded on all sides by steps, which
must have served as seats for the mystae, while the sacred dramas and
processions took place on the floor of the hall: these seats were partly
built up, partly cut in the solid rock; in later times they appear to
have been cased with marble. 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; this terrace may have been
the station of those who were not yet admitted to the full initiation.
The roof of the hall was carried by rows of columns, which were more
than once renewed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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