Mycenae

The ancient citadel of Mycenae is located in the North-East part of Peloponnese in Argolis, about 1.5 hours away from Athens, and it is an imposing site on top of a rocky hill.

Mycenae was the center of power in the Late Bronze age (1600-1100 BCE), and the excavated ruins that sculpt the top of the rocky hill protected the royal families inside the famous Cyclopean walls. Legend has it that Mycenae was founded by Perseus, and the entire culture of mainlad Greece during the Bronze age was named Mycenaean during the late Helladic period. With its legents, art, and ideas, Mycenean culture reached its zenith from 1300 BCE until 1100 BCE.

Mycenaean culture is the source of ancient epics and legends such as the dynasty of Atreids, the labours of Hercules, the Trojan war, the Thyestian Feast, and Agamemnon's tragic life and death. The surrounding area of Argolis was dominated by many different citadels similar to Myceneae, and during the Bronze Age they took advantage of the geopoliticaly important location to accumulate considerable wealth and poser.

The awe inspiring "Lion Gates" (the earliest known piece of monumental sculpture in the European continent) take you to the interior of the acropolis, and a steep path leads your climb through several ancient buildings and pathways, towards the palace where Agamemnon was murdered by his wife Klytemenestra and her lover after he returned victorious from the Trojan war.