After a quick stop in Nafplio to drop our bags and get some lunch, we left the hotel around 3PM and headed to the Mycenae archaeological site, just 30 minutes from town by car.
A beautiful setting on a beautiful day, the Mediterranean landscape of golden rolling hills lined with Italian cypress and olive orchards envelops the hilltop fortress. There isn’t much left of the Mycenaean civilization that ruled this part of the world between 1600 and 1200B.C. For comparison, Delphi and Olympia were active sanctuaries starting in about 800BC.
The most impressive aspects of the ruins are the Lion’s Gate and the 13th century BC beehive-shaped Tholos Tomb.
Most of the rest of the expansive site is levels of ruin walls that encircle the hillside.
A guide or guidebook can help bring the rubble back to life.
Museum Objects:
It took us about 2 hours to go through the museum, site and the Tholos tomb just across the road using the Rick Steves’s walking tour in his guidebook.
May 25, 2016
For links to all the posts in this series see the Greece page.
The great King Agamemnon launched his campaign from this city!
Thanks for the input!