Kabirion, Greek sanctuary in Lemnos, Greece

Kabirion, the sanctuary of the Cabeiri, stands on the Chloi promontory in northeastern Lemnos, facing ancient Hephaistia. Its ruins lie on two terraces held by retaining walls on the slope above the sea. On the north terrace are the foundations of a Hellenistic hall measuring 33 by 46.10 m, with a 12-column portico and two rows of four Ionic columns; on the south terrace, a smaller 3rd-century AD hall and the archaic hall, 6.40 by 13.50 m, with benches of half-baked brick.

The sanctuary emerged in antiquity and served as a place of religious worship across multiple periods, from classical Greek times through the Roman era. Archaeological findings show that use of the site evolved continuously over this long timespan.

This place was a center for mystery cults focused on the Cabeiri deities, drawing people from different social backgrounds together. The surviving inscriptions show that pilgrims gathered here to participate in secret rituals that held great prestige throughout the ancient world.

The sanctuary sits on two terraces on the slope above the sea at Cape Chloi, reached on foot; the upper, northern terrace with the large Hellenistic hall is the first structure you meet on entering. Excavations by the Italian Archaeological School of Athens, begun in 1937-39, resumed in 1982 and continue, so parts of the site may be fenced off.

The sanctuary's oldest hall, on the south terrace, measures 6.40 by 13.50 metres and has benches of half-fired brick along its walls where initiates sat; it may predate the Solonian Telesterion at Eleusis and was probably destroyed by fire in the Persian invasion of 512 BC.