Laurium

Laurium or Lavrio or Lavrion (Modern Greek:Λαύριο; Ancient Greek: Λαύριον; before early 11th century BC: Θορικός Thorikos; from Middle Ages until 19th century: Εργαστήρι Ergastiri) is a town in southeastern part of Attica, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of Lavreotiki. Laurium was famous in Classical antiquity for its silver mines, which was one of the chief sources of revenue of the Athenian state. The metallic silver was mainly used for coinage. The Archaeological Museum of Lavrion shows much of the story of these mines.