Mycenae

Welcome to Mycenae, the fabled city of King Agamemnon and the center of one of the most influential civilizations in human history. We are standing on a rocky hill in the northeastern Peloponnese, a site that has been occupied…

You are standing before the Lion Gate, the main entrance to the citadel and the most famous piece of Bronze Age sculpture in the world. Built around 1250 BC, it features two heraldic lions—though their heads are now…

Just inside the Lion Gate to your right is Grave Circle A, a royal cemetery that dates back to the 16th century BC. This area was originally outside the earlier walls but was so revered that the later expansion of the citadel…

Climb the ramp to the summit of the Acropolis, where the palace complex of the Wanax once stood. The heart of the palace was the Megaron, a rectangular hall with a central circular hearth surrounded by four wooden columns. …

One of the most remarkable engineering feats of the citadel is the secret cistern, located near the northeastern corner. To ensure a water supply during a siege, the Mycenaeans dug a tunnel that descends deep into the rock to…

Located slightly outside the main citadel walls (though now part of the visitor circuit) is Grave Circle B. This cemetery is actually older than the famous Circle A, dating back to around 1650 BC. …

As you leave the citadel, a short walk takes you to the Treasury of Atreus, the most magnificent of the nine 'tholos' or beehive tombs at Mycenae. Built around 1250 BC, it features a long entrance passageway, called a 'dromos,'…

Before ending your visit, spend time in the museum located on the site. It houses the artifacts discovered during the excavations that are not in the National Museum in Athens. …

As we stand once more before the Lion Gate, looking out over the Argive plain toward the sea, we reflect on the incredible legacy of Mycenae. This was the first great civilization of the European mainland, a culture of immense…