The European Commission announced today that the city of Elefsina has been selected to become a European Capital of Culture in 2021.
In a message on its Facebook Page, the EC wrote:
Congratulations to Elefsina (Greece) which has been selected to become a European Capital of Culture in 2021!
The line-up of European Capitals of Culture for 2021 is now complete with Elefsina joining Timişoara in Romania and Novi Sad in Serbia, a candidate country for EU membership.
Eleusis or Elefsina is a town and municipality in West Attica, situated about 18 kilometres (11 miles) northwest from the center of Athens.
The ancient city of Elefsina has a rich cultural history. From as early as 600 BC up to the 4th century AD, Eleusis was the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Demeter and Kore. These Mysteries revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after death for those who were initiated. Such a belief was cultivated from the introduction ceremony in which the hopeful initiates were shown a number of things including the seed of life in a stalk of grain. The central myth of the Mysteries was Demeter’s quest for her lost daughter (Kore the Maiden, or Persephone) who had been abducted by Hades. It was here that Demeter, disguised as an old lady who was abducted by pirates in Crete, came to an old well where the four daughters of the local king Keleos found her and took her to their palace to nurse the son of Keleos and Metaneira, Demophoon. Demeter raised Demophoon, anointing him with nectar and ambrosia, until the Metaneira found out and insulted her. Demeter arose insulted, and casting off her disguise, and, in all her glory, instructed Meteneira to build a temple to her. Keleos, informed the next morning by Metaneira, ordered the citizens to build a rich shrine to Demeter, where she sat in her temple until the lot of the world prayed to Zeus to make the world provide food again.
Modern Elefsina is a major industrial area, and the place where the majority of crude oil in Greece is imported and refined. The largest refinery is located on the west side of town.
