Entertainment / Literature / Temenos: In Classical Greek culture, the temenos is a sacred area marked off as holy ground. On this special plot of land, we might find temples dedicated to a particular god, sanctuaries, holy groves, the race-course for Pythian or Olympic games, the agora in the center of each city, and the Acropolis. Stones called temenos markers would indicate the boundary, and it would be taboo for any ritually unclean person to cross this line lest they risk creating or spreading miasma. (from Greek 'to cut')
Search Google for Temenos: