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The sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron (Ancient Greek Βραυρών; Modern Greek Βραυρώνα — Vravrona or Vravronas) is an early sacred site on the eastern coast of Attica near the Aegean Sea in a small inlet. The inlet has silted up since ancient times, pushing the current shoreline farther from the site. A nearby hill, c. 24 m high and 220 m to the southeast, was inhabited during the Neolithic era, c. 2000 BCE, and flourished particularly from Middle Helladic to early Mycenaean times (2000–1600 BC) as a fortified site (acropolis). Occupation ceased in the LHIIIb period, and the acropolis was never significantly resettled after this time. There is a gap in the occupation of the site from LHIIIb until the 8th century BCE. Brauron was one of the twelve ancient settlements of Attica prior to the synoikismos of Theseus, who unified them with Athens.
The cult of Artemis Brauronia connected the coastal (rural) sanctuary at Brauron with another (urban) sanctuary on the acropolis in Athens, the Brauroneion, from which there was a procession every four years during the Arkteia festival. The tyrant Pisistratus was Brauronian by birth, and he is credited with tranferring the cult to the Acropolis, thus establishing it on the statewide rather than local level. The sanctuary contained a small temple of Artemis, a unique stone bridge, cave shrines, a sacred spring, and a pi-shaped (Π) stoa that included dining rooms for ritual feasting. The unfortified site continued in use until tensions between Athens and the Macedonians the 3rd century BCE caused it to be abandoned. After that time, no archaeologically significant activity occurred at the site until the erection of a small church in the 6th century CE.
The Arkteia festival was celebrated every four years and involved a procession from the shrine of Artemis Brauronia on the acropolis of Athens, 24.5 km WNW of the sanctuary. At the isolated sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron, young Athenian girls approaching marriageable age formed groups consecrated for a time to Artemis as arktoi, she-bears,[10] and spent their time in sacred dances, wearing honey-colored saffron robes, running races and making sacrifice. Vase paintings show that cultic nudity was an element in these preparations for womanhood.
The tower was within optical range of other similar towers used for signalling with smoke during the day and fire during the night. Messages could be relayed very quickly and it is said that a message could be transferred from the shores of Asia to the shores of Europe within an hour. The towers of Vravron as well as Liada were also used to signal the appearance of pirates to the residents of the region. Local lore suggests that the tower was of Venetian origin between 1394 and 1405, but archeological investigations show that it was probably built by the Burgundian Dukes De La Roche (1204–1311) at least one hundred years earlier.
The modern Brauron, known as Vravrona, is a tiny settlement of Markopoulo located nearly 1 km southeast of the archaeological site. It contains dozens of homes; the population in 1991 was 90. The urban area lies about 200 m northward and is linked with a road between Markopoulo and Artemis (Loutsa). The town never grew because the adjacent gulf of Vravrona is rocky and not suited to swimming. The area, amply watered by the seasonal Erasinos river, was once famous for its tomatoes and figs.
The museum is about a 5 minute drive from the archaeological site. It was renovated in 2009 and the exhibits were rearranged. The site remains open daily from 8:30am to 3pm.
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