Aeschylia Festival is the annual artistic festival of the city of

Elefsina Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

West Attica West Attica ( el, Δυτική Αττική) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Attica. The regional unit covers the western part of the agglomeration of Athens, and the area to its west. Administration The region ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Creation

The institution of the artistic events that take place in Elefsina was established in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and owes its name to the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

, who originated from the city. The responsibility of the organizing lies with the municipality of Elefsina and a large number of volunteers.

Art events

This annual artistic event takes place at the end of Summer and at the beginning of Autumn (usually beginning at the end of August and lasting until early September). The main program contains a large number of events from various areas such as theatre plays, music concerts, dances, visual art exhibitions and installations, cinema projections and others. With the passage of time the program is being enriched and now it constitutes a very important cultural event, not only for the town of Elefsina but for the wider region of

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

Location

The vast majority of the events take place at an abandoned industrial factory (formerly a soap factory that had been built in 1875) near the beach of Elefsina, with the exclusion of the first concert that takes place at the

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and ...

of the town, the location emphasizes the relation of the town with the modern industrial activity of

. The theatre plays are performed at a prefabricated metal and wooden theatre while the surrounding buildings are used for art installations and other artistic activities of the festival.

Other activities

Despite of the main program of the Aeschylia festival, each year a plethora of other events take place that are connected with it. For example, the most notable event is the Semi-marathon “On the Traces of

Iera Odos Iera may refer to: * Iera Echebarría, (born 1992) Spanish rugby player * Iera (Lesbos), town on ancient Lesbos, Greece See also * IERA {{dab ...

” of 21 km (

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

- Elefsina) which also is held annually.

References

External links

* https://aisxylia.gr/en/ * https://eleusisimimarathon.gr/ * https://www.facebook.com/aisxylia * http://www.eleusina.gr/ {{Authority control Elefsina Theatre festivals in Europe Theatre festivals in Greece Tourism in Greece Recurring events established in 1975 1975 establishments in Greece Arts festivals in Greece Aeschylus