Dipylon

Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece.

The new circuit was much wider than the old one that was destroyed by the Persians, and many of the graves and monuments of the already existing Kerameikos cemetery were used in its construction, a fact which earned Themistocles the hostility of many Athenians whose relatives' tombs were despoiled.

[7] In 267–262 BC, Athens participated in the unsuccessful Chremonidean War against Macedon; lead tablets with the mark and price of horses and their owners that date to this period, probably a record of the Athenian cavalry, have been found in a well at the Dipylon.

[9] In late Hellenistic times, a second wall with a double gate was added at the outer side of the court, thus creating a fully walled-off enclosure.

With the onset of the barbarian invasions in the 3rd century, Emperor Valerian (r. 253–260) restored the city wall, but this was not enough to prevent the sack of Athens by the Heruli in 267.

[14] In its aftermath, the city contracted to a small fortified core around the Acropolis of Athens, but gradually recovered and expanded again during Late Antiquity, so that Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) restored the Themosticlean Wall.

[18] Archaeological evidence shows traces of later repairs, possibly under Conon, when the pedestal was covered with flat limestone blocks.

The present structure was probably erected during the gate's reconstruction in 307/4 BC, but likely also had a Themistoclean antecedent, of which two pipes and a few Ionic column bases survive.

[23] The structure was rectangular, divided into an L-shaped basin with low walls into which water flowed, and a small entrance hall that was supported by three Ionic columns.

[25] Traces of the proteichisma survive particularly intact in the Kerameikos area,[25] including remnants of 4th-century BC pitfall traps against siege engines, consisting of 2 metres (6.6 ft) high pithoi let into the ground.

Following the reconstruction of the walls in 307/4 BC, however, this ceased to be the case, as the proteichisma received a roofed chemin de ronde, blocking the road.