English: The relics of the Pompeion at the Kerameikos Cemetery (Athens). During the Classical period an important public building in the Kerameikos in Athens, the Pompeion, stood inside the walls in the area between the two gates. This served a key function in the procession (pompē - πομπή) in honour of Athena during the Panathenaic Festival. It consisted of a large courtyard surrounded by columns and banquet rooms, where the nobility of Athens would eat the sacrificial meat for the festival. Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, November 12 2009.