English: “The Tritopatreion sanctuary, a simple unroofed sacred precinct, is the place where the Athenians worshipped their common ancestors. It is situated ca. 50m. from the Sacred Gate, at the point where the two streets converge: the Sacred Street coming from Eleusis and the so-called “Street of the Tombs” that comes from the ports of Athens at Piraeus. The cult was installed here in the early 5th cent. B.C. and the sanctuary ceased to exist around 300 B.C., lasting therefore two centuries.

In a first phase, ca. 500 B.C., the sanctuary’s position was marked by an irregular limestone block with the inscription “ΗΙΕΡΟΝ ΤΡΙΤΟΠΑΤΡΕΟΝ.” The block has been used in the south wall of the second phase of the sanctuary: In the last quarter of the 5th cent. B.C., the western part of the sanctuary was surrounded by a mud-brick wall on a low stone socle, enclosing a sacred grove. The eastern part of the sanctuary did not receive any permanent wall, but the sacred space here must have been fenced off by ropes. A tumulus was formed, with an aperture on top in order to receive offerings. Both parts were marked off with new boundary stones in pentelic marble carrying the inscription “ΗΟΡΟΣ ΗΙΕΡΟ/ΤΡΙΤΟΠΑΤΡΕΟΝ/ΗΑΒΑΤΟΝ (‘Boundary of the Sanctuary of the Tritopatores. Do not enter’).

According to ancient texts, the Tritopatores were worshipped regularly by the Athenian citizens in common cult. On the occasion, the ancestors were offered food and drink. Also, in Athens the citizens were seeking the blessings of the Tritopatores in their private wedding ritual: they were begging them for the birth of children and in particular they were praying for the birth of sons.” Text: Information board.