THE FIRST CEMETERY OF ATHENS : GUIDE TO ITS MONUMENTS AND HISTORY

On 6/5/1834, the Decree Concerning Cemeteries and the burial of the dead was issued, according to which burial of the dead was forbidden in church precincts for reasons of hygiene, and it was determined that each municipality should construct at its own expense a cemetery at least 100 meters distant from the city. The area needed to be to the north or east of the city, if possible on a hill where winds blew so that it would be well aired, large, and fenced in. The part facing the city should be planted with trees. In each cemetery, a small chapel was to be built where the dead would remain until burial; at the same time, a guard was to be assigned to oversee it. And so on the basis of the Royal Decree, the hill of Mets southeast of the city and in a well-ventilated place was selected. The windmills of Athens were located there at the time for exactly this reason. The fact that there was already a road there, the modern-day Anapafseos Street (identified as the ancient road leading from the Gate of Diomedes to Sounion) may have contributed to the founding of the cemetery. During the period of Turkish rule, this same road linked the region with the city through Hadrians Gate. Its location near the Ilisos probably contributed to this choice, in accordance with old religious and metaphysical beliefs about water as an element of purification as well as to maintain hygienic conditions. Besides, the architects Kleanthis and Schaubert in their proposed plan for the city of Athens (1833) had demarcated the citys cemetery nearby between the Hill of the Muses and the Ilissos River, though this plan was never realized. The First Cemetery of Athens was built on the basis of the Royal Decree of 4 November 1837 (protocol nr. 17119 of the On Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education, Secretariat of State), during Dimitrios Kallifronass term as Mayor of Athens (1837-1841). Perhaps this delay was related to discussions ongoing during this period concerning the implementation of