The long afterglow phosphor CaAl2Si2O8:Eu2+, Dy3+ was prepared by a sol-gel method. The sol-gel process and the structure of the phosphor were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). It is found that the single anorthite phase formed at about 1000 ℃, which is 300 ℃ lower than that required for the conventional solid state reaction. The obtained phosphor powders are easier to grind than those of solid state method and the partical size of phosphor has a relative narrow distribution of 200 to 500 nm. The photoluminescence and afterglow properties of the phosphor were also characterized. An obvious blue shift occurs in the excitation and emission spectra of phosphors obtained by sol-gel and solid state reaction methods. The change of the fluorescence spectra can be attributed to the sharp decrease of the crystalline grain size of the phosphor resulted from the sol-gel technique.