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Peloponnese Photo Gallery
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Ancient Mycenae Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece,
Mycenae was the main centre
of the Mycenaean world and gave its name to a period and a civilization
that evolved throughout the entire Greek world between the 16th and
the 12th century BC and spread to all the known sites of this period
in the Mediterranean basin.
The Mycenaean acropolis, dominating the
surrounding area and the Argive plain uniquely placed to control the
communication routes in all directions - to the Peloponnese and to mainland
Greece - and naturally strongly defended, was the most appropriate site
to house the royal house of all the Atreidae and their people.
Life on the hill goes back much further.
The excavations begun in 1874 by Heinrich Schliemann,
which still continue today, have demonstrated that the site was inhabited
already in the 3rd millennium BC ,they have also brought to light brilliant
creations of the Middle Helladic period (1900-1580 BC), attesting to
the glory and might of a ruling house earlier than the Atreidae, possibly
the dynasty associated with the founding-father of Mycenae, Perseus
and his descendants , down to the king Eurystheous, who imposed the
'twelve labours ' on Hercules and finally killed by the Herakleidae
in Attica.
The dynasty of Atreus and
his descendants, Agamemnon Orestes and Teisamenos followed.
This dynasty imposed itself on the other local rulers in the Peloponnese,
mainland Greece and the Aegean, as far afield as Minoan Crete, and led
the Greek expedition against Troy.
Within the impregnable Cyclopean walls of the citadel, unfolded the
life and terrible sufferings of the family of Agamemnon, the names of
its members (Clytaemnestra, Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes, together with
Agamemnon's rival Aegisthus ) furnished material for the Homeric poems,
the ancient Greek tragic poets, and post-Renaissance classical European
and international literature .
 These
figures cannot be identified with particular monuments with any certainly
what is certain, however, is that on the acropolis at Mycenaeans and
their ancestors.
The visitor meets the most important of the Mycenae monuments on the
road leading from the modern village of Mycenae to the acropolis.
Lion Gate is the main, monumental entrance to the fortified citadel.
Its name derives from the relief group of two confronted lions covering
the triangle above the lintel. Its construction , and that of the Cyclopean
walls, which are about 900m long and 5.50-7.50 m thick, with a height
up to 12m, are amazing technical feats for the period at which they
were built (1350 - 1200 BC ), and have been attributed with some justification
to the mythical Cyclopes. 
Grave circle A: Cemetery of royal tombs dating from the beginning of
the late Helladic period (16th c. BC ). When it was in use, the cemetery
lay outside the walls. Gold funeral masks and a variety of other masterpieces,
now on display in the National Archeological Museum in Athens, were
discovered during its excavation .
 Nafplio
Hotels | Tolo Hotels
| Olympia Hotels | Sparti
Hotels | Monemvasia Hotels
Porto Heli Hotels | Kalamata
Hotels | Patras Hotels |
Kalavrita Hotels | Korinhos
Hotels
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PELOPONNESE
 ARGOLIS
Nafplion, Argos, Mycenae, Epidavros, Tolo,
Porto Heli
CORINTHIA
Corinth Canal, Ancient Corinthos, Acrocorinth
ARCADIA
Tripolis, Dimitsana, Lagadia, Stemnitsa
LACONIA
Sparti, Mistras, Monemvasia,
Gythio
MESSINIA
Kalamata, Methoni, koroni, Pylos
ILIA
Pyrgos, Zaharo, Kaiafa,
Ancient Olympia
ACHAIA
Patras, Rio, Kalavrita
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