The best time to visit Mycenae Greece is when you can walk uphill without panting. The archaeological Mycenae site can be reached from Nafplio or from Athens. It is one of the best sites to visit and will show you the Mycenaean civilization.
After meeting at the tour office located across the Temple of Zeus in Athens, we checked in to our tour to visit three Greek historical sites including Mycenae, Atreus and Epidaurus.
We would drive to Corinth where the ancient Corinth Canal existed. We would stop by the bridge that spans across the canal and take pictures of the canal below. The isthmus was first crossed by boats in 600 BCE. It would not be built until 67 AD when Roman Emperor Nero used Jewish prisoners captured during the First Jewish-Roman war. However the project ceased upon his death. In the centuries subsequent, no one including the Venetians followed suit. Construction finally recommenced in 1881 but it was hampered by geological and financial problems. It would be completed two years later but because of the steep walls and periodic closures to repair landslides, it failed to attract the traffic that the operators would have expected.
After seeing the Corinth Canal, it was time to continue our tour.
We continued on our way and saw wide open land filled with groves of olive trees on either side of the highway. Olive trees seem to grow everywhere. It was a rich and fertile area. We went by an area that the tour guide said produces all the world supply of kalamata olives. Kalamata olives are one of the most prized olives because of the monosaturated fats and oleic acid. These fats provide a number of cardiovascular benefits, helping to reduce LDL (or bad cholesterol).
There is even a Kalamata Castle, an impressive castle that sits high up on a hill. It is a medieval fortress built by the crusaders.
First stop was the Atreus Tomb. We walked into the tomb and the tour guide explained what it was that we were in and what significance it was in the ancient world. This was like going into a catacomb in Italy but there were no bodies buried in them. Two significant Mycenaeian kings were buried in a tomb such as the one we toured because they were both identified. Agamemnon the most famous was buried in an Atreus tomb.The tomb is also known as a beehive chamber. It is circular and topped with a corbelled dome. The dome is the largest in the world until the Roman period.
Next, we drove to Mycenae where it was one of the major centres of Greek civilization in the second millenium BC. It represents one of the earliest civilization in Greece, namely because of the urban organization, palatial states, writing and works of art. The Mycenaeans were mainland Greek people who were stimulated by their contact with the Minoan Crete and other Mediterranean cultures to develop their sociopolitical culture of their own. The most prominent site is Mycenae but there were other centers of power throughout Greece.
There wasn't much to see at Mycenae, except some stone walls and paths.
The Lion Gate is the sole surviving monumental piece of the Mycenae sculpture. It also is a testimony that lions existed in Europe and Greece in ancient times. Built in 1250 BC, it has a historical significance showing Mycenaean architecture and art and its a testament to the skills of the Mycenaean builders.
I read Lord Elgin was here when he was scouting for marbles to take back with him. If the Lion Gate wasn't so large (over 10 feet), did not weigh so much (over 20 tons) and was closer to the ocean then Lord Elgin would have grabbed it and we would have seen nothing at from Mycenae and place it at the British Museum.
We toured the area and climbed up to the top of the citadel. There wasn't any ruins on top but you can see for miles from the acropolis. One thing we learned from the tour that we could not find in the history books included the reason why the citadel wasn't attacked was because from the sea, the citadel was not on the tallest peak nor was it on the smallest peak. It was among the hills and it went unnoticed.
Lastly, we drove out to Epidaurus, the center for healing. An ancient theatre built in the 4th BCE with superb acoustics is still used today for performances.
Have you been to the Lion Gate or the Atreus Tomb? If so, please leave me a comment.
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