Diateichisma

{{unreferenced, date=June 2019 Athens - Diateichisma wall 01

The ''Diateichisma'' ( gr, διατείχισμα, 3=cross wall) was an addition to the

city walls of Athens The city of Athens, capital of modern Greece, has had different sets of city walls from the Bronze Age to the early 19th century. The city walls of Athens include: * the Mycenaean Cyclopean fortifications of the Acropolis of Athens * the Pelasgic ...

constructed in the 280s BC. The ''Diateichisma'' was built after the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC). It was 900m long and built across the crests of the three hills: that of the

Muses In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the p ...

, of the

Nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...

, and the

Pnyx The Pnyx (; grc, Πνύξ ; ell, Πνύκα, ''Pnyka'') is a hill in central Athens, the capital of Greece. Beginning as early as 507 BC (Fifth-century Athens), the Athenians gathered on the Pnyx to host their popular assemblies, thus making t ...

. It joined the

Themistoclean Wall The Themistoclean Wall ( el, Θεμιστόκλειον τείχος), named after the Athenian statesman Themistocles, was built in Athens, Greece during the 5th century BC as a result of the Persian Wars and in the hopes of defending against fur ...

at north and south and had square and circular towers and two gates. However it cut through inhabited suburbs of ancient Athens, leaving the

deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states. Demes as simple subdivisions of land in the countryside seem to have existed in the 6th century BC and ear ...

s of Melete and Koile outside the wall and vulnerable. The south gate in the valley between the hill of the Muses and the Pnyx was for the most important commercial Koile road of Athens which led to the port of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

. Remains of the gate can still be seen. The north Melitides gate was in the valley between the other two hills. In 294 BC, a small fort was built on the top of the Muses hill for the Macedonian guard of

Demetrius Poliorcetes Demetrius I (; grc, Δημήτριος; 337–283 BC), also called Poliorcetes (; el, Πολιορκητής, "The Besieger"), was a Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian nobleman, military leader, and king of Macedon (294–288 BC). He belonged to t ...

, using the junction of the wall with the Themistoclean Wall on two sides joined to a new wall with towers. City walls of Athens Ancient Greek fortifications in Greece