Plutonian Cave Eleusis

To the northeast of the ancient city’s Acropolis is the Plutonian Cave. Located on the grounds of the Sanctuary of Demeter, a curved staircase leads to its haunting interior. The dark indentations and enigmatic cracks etched into the cave’s rear walls led the ancient Eleusinians to believe these were symbols of passages to the underworld. On the sanctuary’s exterior, anaglyphs dedicated to Persephone, Pluto, and Demeter relate the cave to the myths popular in Eleusis and to the Eleusinian Mysteries. The cave was thought to be tied to the worship of Pluto, god of the underworld. Legend has it that Pluto ascended here from the underworld and kidnapped Persephone.