Lion Gate of Mycenae
Lion Gate of Mycenae is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Nafplio audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~30 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type monument
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Nafplio Nafplio guide
About Lion Gate of Mycenae
The monumental main entrance to Mycenae's citadel, crowned by two confronted lions in relief, the only piece of monumental sculpture to survive from the entire Mycenaean world.
The Lion Gate is the monumental main entrance to the citadel of Mycenae, built around 1250 BC. Above the lintel, a limestone relief slab shows two confronted lions or lionesses flanking a single Minoan-type column, their forepaws resting on the altars that support it. The opening is roughly 3.1 metres wide and 3 metres high, spanned by a single monolithic lintel block about 4.5 metres long. A corbelled relieving triangle above the lintel channels the wall's weight around the opening rather than onto it.
The heads of the animals were made separately from a different material and are now lost, leaving only the bodies and necks. The relief is the sole surviving monumental sculpture of Mycenaean civilization and probably functioned as a heraldic emblem of royal power. The gate was never wholly buried; it was correctly identified in 1700 during Francesco Grimani's survey using Pausanias's ancient description, and Heinrich Schliemann excavated beside it in 1876.
Did you know? The animals' heads were carved from a different material and fixed on separately; both are now lost, so the lions face visitors headless. Scholars still debate whether they were lions, lionesses, or even sphinxes.
How long should you spend at Lion Gate of Mycenae?
Plan about ~30 min at Lion Gate of Mycenae. That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Lion Gate of Mycenae worth visiting?
Lion Gate of Mycenae is one of the 15 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Nafplio, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
Nearby stops in Nafplio
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Hear the story of Lion Gate of Mycenae
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