Mycenae
Mykines · Agamemnon's Mycenae · Citadel of Mycenae
Mycenaean Helladic 1600–1100 BCE, peak 1350–1200 BCE·Mycenaean Greeks·🇬🇷 Peloponnese (Argolis), Greece
About
About Mycenae
Bronze Age citadel (c.1600–1100 BCE) of Mycenaean Greece, Homer's 'rich in gold' kingdom of Agamemnon: Cyclopean walls (6 m thick, blocks >5 tonnes), Lion Gate (1250 BCE earliest monumental sculpture in Europe), Grave Circle A with golden funeral masks ('Mask of Agamemnon'), and tholos tombs including Treasury of Atreus (largest dome in Europe until Pantheon).
Why it mattersDefining site of Mycenaean civilization; cyclopean masonry canonical; Grave Circle gold demonstrates early Greek wealth
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Schliemann's 'Mask of Agamemnon' dating 400 years before Trojan War presumed
- 02Cyclopean logistics without pulley
Theories
- 01Homeric epics direct historical memory vs Bronze Age reflection
- 02Earthquake + Dorian invasion collapse debate
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1350 BCE Cyclopean walls, Lion Gate c.1250 BCE
- Period
- Mycenaean Helladic 1600–1100 BCE, peak 1350–1200 BCE
- Culture
- Mycenaean Greeks
- Purpose
- Citadel, palace, fortified kingdom controlling Argive plain
- Abandoned
- c.1100 BCE Bronze Age collapse
- Rediscovered
- 1876 Schliemann dramatic discovery
- Excavation
- Excavated
1600 BCE
Grave Circle A shaft graves with gold masks
1350 BCE
Cyclopean fortification
1250 BCE
Lion Gate construction
1876
Schliemann excavates shaft graves
On the ground
Structures & features
37.7308° N · 22.7561° E · 300 m · 3 mapped features
Lion Gate
gateRelieving triangle with lionesses flanking column, 3.1 m high
37.7308° N · 22.7560° EGrave Circle A
necropolis6 shaft graves with golden masks and weaponry inside citadel
37.7306° N · 22.7558° ETreasury of Atreus (Tholos)
tholos tomb14.5 m corbelled dome tholos tomb with 120-tonne lintel
37.7265° N · 22.7530° E
Gallery