After an overnight stay in Nafplio, off we went to the archaeological site of Mycenae in the Argolis region of Peloponnese. It was early October, typically low season for tourists, our favorite time of year to vacation in Greece. We looked forward to a quiet stroll around the citadel.

Our exploration of Mycenae started at the archaeological museum where a handful of tourists browsed the displays of ancient artifacts. When finished at the museum, we headed to the Lion Gate and Grave Circle A. We followed a young couple through the massive stone gate. So far so good I thought, not many people were in sight.

The illusion of being one of only a few was broken when we gazed up the hill to the citadel. A parade of fifty or more tourists zigzagged their way down the long hillside path. The group slowly filed past us on their way back to the Lion Gate, their destination a parking lot filled with tourist buses.

Before long, the parade of people emptied out of the citadel. We breathed a sigh of relief and relished the quiet solitude of the ancient site. All became right in our world once again.

The Lion Gate at Mycenae, the only known monumental sculpture of Bronze Age Greece.

Grave Circle A – a 16th-century BC royal cemetery situated to the south of the Lion Gate, the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel.

The path leading to the citadel.

The path leading out of the citadel through the Lion Gate.

Overlooking Grave Circle A to the parking lot filled with tourist buses.

View of the fertile plain of Argolis and the Argolic Gulf.

Archaeological Museum of Mycenae:

About Mycenae:

Mycenae (Μυκήνες) is one of the most important archaeological sites of Greece. The fortified citadel is nested over the fertile plain of Argolis near the Argolic Gulf in northeast Peloponnese. Mycenae is the largest and most important center of civilization and was named “Mycenaean” after this very citadel.  The Mycenaean culture dominated mainland Greece, the Aegean islands, and the shores of Asia Minor during the late Bronze Age era (circa 1600-1100 BCE).

For more information about the history of Mycenae check out the website Ancient-Greece.org.

Inspiration: Story.