Brauron: In the embrace of the goddess Artemis

Artemis, goddess of nature, life and fertility, was worshipped at Brauron primarily as the protector of marriage, women, childbirth and childrearing. The earliest worship dates to the 9th century BC, while the sanctuary flourished in the 5th and 4th centuries BC.

According to myth, Orestes and Iphigenia, children of Agamemnon, stole the xoanon (wooden cult statue) of Artemis from Tauris (Crimea) and, following the guidance of the goddess Athena, founded a temple at Brauron to house it. Iphigenia remained there as the key-bearing priestess of the goddess and, after her death, was honored as a heroine of the underworld. The “Relief of the Gods,” displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Brauron, depicts the myth of how the sanctuary was founded.

The great festival of Brauronia was centred around the ritual of the arkteia, marking the passage of girls from childhood to adolescence.

The Doric temple of Artemis, built near the sacred spring in an elevated part of the sanctuary, dominated the site. Of the other buildings, the large stoa with its restored columns and the stone bridge over the Erasinos River still impress visitors today. The sanctuary was abandoned in the 3rd century BC, possibly due to the Chremonidean War or the Erasinos flooding. In post-Byzantine times, a small chapel dedicated to Saint George was built near the ancient temple.

The adjacent Archaeological Museum houses finds from the sanctuary, including fragments of the cult statue of the goddess of Artemis and numerous dedications to her – statues of children, toys, vases, figurines and more. It also displays finds from prehistoric Brauron and from the Mesogeia region. Replica exhibits serve as tactile displays for visitors with visual impairments.