Greece 12 - Peloponnese

6

#. 6

Merchants'

Houses

Drain

Agamemnon's

Death

Chamber

Great

Court

Throne

Room

# 6

#^8

#^3

# 2

# 9

# 1

# 5

# 7

# 4

e#

MycenaeD

(1.5km)

DMuseum (150m)^0100 .05miles00 m

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2

Site Tour

Citadel of Mycenae

STA RT LION GATE
END THOLOS TOMBS
LENGTH 2.5KM; TWO HOURS

Enter Agamemnon’s Palace through the dra-
matic 1 Lion Gate, a solid construction of
massive stone blocks over which rear two large
lionesses. The lion motif is believed to have
been the insignia of the Royal House of Atreus.
Inside the citadel, 2 Grave Circle A is on
the right. Five shafts of this royal cemetery
were excavated by Heinrich Schliemann be-
tween 1874 and 1876, uncovering a rich ar-
chaeological haul, including a well-preserved
gold death mask. Schliemann sent a telegram
to the Greek king stating, ‘I have gazed upon
the face of Agamemnon,’ though the mask
turned out to belong to an unknown king.
South of Grave Circle A is a group of ru-
ined 3 houses. The famous Warrior Vase,
unearthed here, was regarded by Schliemann
as one of his greatest discoveries because it
offered a glimpse of what Mycenae’s legend-
ary warriors looked like.

Follow the main path up to 4 Agamem-

non’s Palace, centred on the Great Court.

The rooms to the north were private royal

apartments where it is thought that Agam-

emnon was murdered. On the palace’s south-

eastern side is the 5 megaron (reception

hall where the great hearth would have been),

with the column bases remaining and, be-

yond this, the 6 artisans’ quarters.

At the northeast extension you’ll find the

entrance to the 7 secret cistern in the

corner. You’ll need a torch to descend the 100

or so steps into the subterranean gloom.

Follow the main path anticlockwise; on

the northern boundary of the citadel is the

8 Postern Gate, through which, it is said,

Orestes escaped after murdering his mother.

Until the late 15th century BC the My-

cenaeans interred their royal dead in shaft

graves; later they used a new form of burial –

the beehive-shaped tholos tomb. Back out-

side the Lion Gate, head down to the tholos

tombs of Aegisthus, with its collapsed roof,

and Clytemnestra’s tomb, with its dramatic

entrance and restored dome roof.