From the 2nd century BC at the latest, the Agora of Athens was surrounded on all sides by architecture and appeared as a closed square. However, the area enclosed by these buildings was not a uniform open space. Rather, several boundaries and internal divisions can be recognised by means of boundary stones, barriers or perirrhanteria. The crossing of sacred boundaries around the various cult sites (altars and temples) in particular was associated with specific rites of de passage that also made the boundaries tangible in a performative way. Such internal divisions had political-social as well as religious implications and structured the space and its potential uses to a far greater extent than has previously been recognised.

The paper examines and discusses the relationship between these internal boundaries and their impact on the use of the area in relation to the built architectural structure of the square.