Citadel of Mycenae
On Gingerguide's self-guided Nafplio audio tour, Citadel of Mycenae is a stop worth about ~90 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type ruins
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Nafplio Nafplio guide
About Citadel of Mycenae
The Bronze Age fortress that gave the Mycenaean civilization its name: Cyclopean walls, the gold-filled shaft graves of Grave Circle A, and a secret stairway to underground water.
Mycenae is the type-site of the Mycenaean civilization: the entire Late Bronze Age culture of mainland Greece, roughly 1600 to 1100 BC, takes its name from it. UNESCO inscribed the archaeological sites of Mycenae and Tiryns as a World Heritage Site in 1999. The fortifications are built of 'Cyclopean' masonry, limestone blocks weighing well over 20 tonnes, with some approaching 100. Around 1350 BC the citadel and lower town covered about 32 hectares and may have held some 30,000 people.
Just inside the Lion Gate lies Grave Circle A, six shaft graves excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876; they held nineteen burials and about 15 kilograms of gold, including gold death masks. A concealed underground cistern, reached by about 99 corbelled steps, was cut around 1250 BC to bring water from a spring outside the walls into the citadel. Mycenae was destroyed around 1200 BC, and in 468 BC troops from Argos captured it and razed its fortifications.
Did you know? The walls are called 'Cyclopean' because later Greeks could not believe humans had lifted such stones and credited the one-eyed Cyclopes. Individual blocks weigh over twenty tonnes, and some may approach a hundred.
How much time do you need at Citadel of Mycenae?
Around ~90 min works well for Citadel of Mycenae — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Citadel of Mycenae?
Yes — Citadel of Mycenae made the cut as one of 15 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Nafplio. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Nafplio
Day 2 of the Nafplio in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Citadel of Mycenae
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