page_title: Cave Sanctuaries of the Akropolis
section_title: Nymphe Sanctuary
hierarchical_section_title: Cave Sanctuaries of the Akropolis / Nymphe Sanctuary
caption_attribution_description: Acropolis Museum 2009
context_page_description: The Cave Sanctuaries of the Akropolis, Athens, are the natural fissures in the rock of the Akropolis hill that were used as sites of worship for deities of the panhellenic pantheon in antiquity. Traditionally a sharp distinction has been drawn between the state religion practised on the summit of the akropolis and the cult practice of the shrines on the lower slopes. Recently, however, interest has burgeoned in the individual religious experience or personal piety in Greek society of which these cult sites may be the expression. The proceeding description follows the order of the shrines from the Klepsydra at the northwest face of the akropolis clockwise via the Peripatos round to the foot of the Nike bastion.
context_section_description: The Sanctuary of the Nymphe is an open air sanctuary south of later built Herodeion  it is not accessible from peripatos. The temenos was excavated in 1955-60 when a variety of evidence of use  was uncovered including a horos inscribed “boundary of the sanctuary of nymphe”,  and a large number of loutrophoroi the majority of which were black-figure dating to the 6th century. Nymphe is an obscure figure in the pantheon who was protector of marriage and wedding ceremonies. The site comprised an altar, an oval peribolos or encircling wall and an apsidal structure over the altar. The loutrophoros was used by suppliants to carry water from the Kallirrhoe spring near the Ilissos river for the prenuptial bath of the bride. This procession was called the loutrophoria. The sanctuary lasted until the 1st century CE when the precinct was destroyed.
caption: Loutrophoroi from the Nymphe Sanctuary in the Akropolis Museum.
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