July 1st - Day 21

The Lion Gate

Today was another exciting day as we headed to Mycenae! Mycenae was the center of the Mycenaean civilization that developed between the 16th century and 12th century BC, although the site has been occupied since the Neolithic Period.

Our tour started at Grave Circle A, which is a cemetery of royal tombs dating from the 16th century. Archaeologists found gold funeral masks and a variety of other items which are now on display in the National Archaeological Museum (we got to see these prior to leaving for this trip). Next it was up the hill (of course) to the main entrance to see the famous Lion Gate, which is huge! It is said to be made out of Cyclopean stones because the stones are so large that only a Cyclops could lift them and put them in place. The walls and doorway were an impressive sight, so I can easy see why people believed that.

Cult Figure from the
House of Figurines

Grave Circle B

After crossing under the gateway we headed over to Grave Circle B, which is another cemetery of royal tombs. It is actually older than Grave Circle A, dating to the 17th or 16th century BC, but is referred to as Grave Circle B because it was found second. We got to see many of the finds, which included more gold funeral masks and other gold items, in the National Museum. We passed by some houses on our way to the House of the Figurines, which was the cult center of the site. We got to see some of the figurines, including the cult statue, in the museum on site. Next it was up another hill to see the remains of the palace and head over to the underground cistern.

Tunnel to Cistern

Getting to the cistern was quite the adventure! It was incredibly dark as there is no lighting in the tunnel that leads down. We all had to walk in a single file line down the right side of the stairway keeping our hands on the wall. The stairs were completely uneven and most of us were using our flashlight apps on our phones to light the way. We had to be very quite so that we could communicate to each other and warn each other to watch out of a particularly slippery stair or support beam. The pool that was at the bottom of the cistern that would have served as one of the main water source has since dried up, but we were able to see where it had been located. Once we reached the bottom we had time for a quick photo opp and then we had to turn around and head up the left side single file. It was a very claustrophobic experience with so many people down in the tunnel at one time. I was glad to get back out of the tunnel We then passed by the North Gate on our way to see the on site museum, which contains some of the artifacts found at the sight. The majority of the finds are located in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. We made a quick stop at the Treasury of Atreus, one of the most well preserved tholos tombs. It was so big!

Inside the Treasury of Atreus

The Pyramid

We then got back on the bus and headed towards our next site, Lerna. On the way we pulled over for a quick stop at a site our bus drive told us about, simply known as The Pyramid. Spyros our drive said that someone had told him that this pyramid predated the Egyptian pyramids, so naturally we were all intrigued. Of course one look at the structure told us that this was not the case. We looked up the site later and not much is known about the pyramid and it has not be studied extensively. After a very short lunch break, which was not to the liking of myself and my fellow travelers, we traveled on to Lerna. Lerna is an early Bronze Age site and was rather small. We saw the remains of what is known as the House of Tiles. It is called this because of all the roofing tiles which were found there.

House of Tiles

Next stop was Tiryns, a Mycenaean hill fort. This was another small site so it didn't take us long to get through it. When we finished there it was back on the bus and back to the hotel. I had a few hours to kill before dinner so I took a shower and wandered around the town for a bit, as tonight was our last night in Nauplion. I then met up with some friends for dinner. We headed back to the small, family owned restaurant where we ate yesterday and then stopped at a gelato place for dessert. Then it was back to the hotel to pack - tomorrow we head to Sparta!