Brexiza Beach, Nea Makri: A Free Egyptian Temple Sits Behind a Wire Fence Along the Promenade

Greece | Nea Makri | Marathon Municipality, East Attica

Behind a wire fence along the Nea Makri promenade, a gate opens onto something I genuinely did not expect to find on this stretch of the Attica coast: a sanctuary dedicated to Egyptian gods, built by the Roman-era benefactor Herodes Atticus around 160 AD. The temple, roughly 50 by 50 metres and shaped as a quadrilateral precinct, was dedicated to Sarapis, the Hellenised form of Osiris, alongside Isis and their son Horus. Each of its four entrances took the form of an Egyptian pylon, framed by statues of supernatural scale — two male, two female at each doorway — a deliberate echo of the temple architecture of Egypt itself rather than anything typically Greek or Roman.

The site sits specifically in Brexiza, also called Mikro Elos (the Small Marsh), at the border between modern Marathon and Nea Makri, a location foreign travellers had already noted with fascination before the modern Greek state even existed — the French consul Fauvel, visiting in 1789 while searching for the Tomb of the Athenians, excavated busts of Herodes Atticus himself and the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, now housed in the Louvre and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The main rediscovery came much later: in 1968, work to settle the bed of a nearby torrent brought Roman-Egyptian statues of supernatural size back to the surface, triggering a rescue excavation, with the systematic dig completed between 2001 and 2008 by archaeologist I. Dekoulakos and colleagues. The original statues now sit in the Archaeological Museum of Marathon; what stands at the site today are faithful replicas, giving visitors a genuine sense of scale without risking the originals to the sea air. Entry is free, the site typically takes ten to twenty minutes to see properly, and dogs are explicitly permitted provided they stay on the paths.

Getting There: 40 Minutes From Athens, a Site Along the Promenade Itself

The drive from central Athens follows the Attiki Odos or Mesogeion Avenue toward Marathon, continuing on to Nea Makri, the full journey taking roughly 45 to 60 minutes. The KTEL Attikis bus runs hourly from Nomismatokopio metro station, also covering the route in about an hour to seventy-five minutes. From Athens International Airport, Nea Makri sits around 25 kilometres away.

The sanctuary itself requires no separate trip — it sits directly along the Nea Makri promenade, reachable by a pleasant twenty-minute coastal walk from the town centre, or a ten-minute taxi ride, with the entrance simply a gate in a wire fence on the seaward side of the path.

The Beach: Blue Flag at Brexiza, Sand and Pebble, Sunbeds From Named Beach Bars

Brexiza itself holds Blue Flag certification, part of the longer stretch of Nea Makri coastline at Marathon Beach Nea Makri Attica Greece, where I noted that the open beach carries comparatively limited amenities directly on the sand. This specific Brexiza section, by contrast, is genuinely organised, with named beach bars including Seacret and La Costa offering sunbeds and umbrellas, SEATRAC access for independent sea entry, and accessible changing rooms and showers. TRATA, a well-regarded taverna nearby, serves fresh seafood including grilled octopus with a direct view over the South Euboean Gulf.

The small Church of Agia Kyriaki stands close to the archaeological site, worth the short detour for anyone walking the promenade between the sanctuary and the beach proper.

Brexiza, the Blue Flag section of Nea Makri’s coastline, sits directly beside the free Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods, built around 160 AD by Herodes Atticus and dedicated to Sarapis, Isis, and Osiris — discovered in 1968 and systematically excavated between 2001 and 2008, with the original statues now in the Marathon Archaeological Museum and faithful replicas standing at the site itself. Sand and pebble shore, named beach bars, SEATRAC access, and the small Church of Agia Kyriaki nearby. Forty-five to sixty minutes from Athens, the sanctuary reachable on foot directly along the same promenade as the beach.

Drive or take the bus to Nea Makri. Walk the promenade to the wire-fenced gate and step inside for free. Swim at Brexiza afterward, or eat at TRATA with the gulf in view.