Ancient site · City
Mycenae
Mycenae, on a hill in the Argolid, gave its name to the Mycenaean civilisation of Bronze Age Greece. Rich shaft graves full of gold date from around 1600 BCE.
Around 1250 BCE its walls of giant 'Cyclopean' blocks were extended and the Lion Gate built, crowned by two carved lions or lionesses. The Treasury of Atreus is a vast beehive-shaped tomb. Mycenae was destroyed in the Bronze Age collapse around 1200 BCE and survived only as a small town until 468 BCE.
- Dates
- citadel c. 1600–1100 BCE (Lion Gate c. 1250 BCE)
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 37.73° N, 22.76° E
How we know
Linear B clay tablets in early Greek were found here, and later Greek writers describe it; Homer's King Agamemnon, though, belongs to legend.
Nearby sites
- Acropolis of Athens (Parthenon) Parthenon 447–432 BCE; damaged 1687
- Olympia Games c. 776 BCE (traditional) – 390s CE
- Sesklo c. 7000–4400 BCE (earliest levels possibly older)
- Akrotiri settled by c. 4500 BCE; buried c. 1600 BCE
- Knossos (Palace of Minos) palace c. 1900–1350 BCE (hill settled from c. 7000 BCE)
- Troy (Hisarlik) c. 3600 BCE – c. 500 CE
Related
- Early Mycenaean Greece archaeological culture
- The world in 2000 BCE: Cities of Bronze chapter