In the morning we visited the archaeological site of Mycenae. This was a civilisation evolved in the 16th and 12th century BC and covered the Mediterranean basin, but excavations have shown that habitation was here also as early as the 3rd millennium BC.
This is some of the valley the acropolis overlooked
Getting down to the nitty gritty, how on earth did those early civilisations move such massive stones to build their walls?
Those blocks were part of structures like these, the Cyclopean walls, which were approx 900metres long, 5.5-7.5 metres thick and up to 12 metres high.
This is the other side of that wall, called the Lions Gate which is the main entrance to the citadel. The missing lions heads were possibly made of some precious metal, plundered years ago. Lions were used as symbols to represent power and domination.
These are the Grave circles, the royal tombs.
The Museum on site which unfortunately we were rushed through, displays many artefacts found on site. This is a display of early implements of hair and makeup. Note the tweezers, bottom left hand corners.
These are some of the characters of the script used at the time.
More for the engineers. This was a beehive tomb, which some people believe was the tomb of Agamemnon. Note the lintel across the opening.
Inside, it is obvious why it is called a beehive tomb. The guide pointed out the crack in the stone lintel on the right hand side. The reason it did not crack in the middle over the doorway during earthquakes is the triangular gap above the doorway.
Another view from the top. We would have loved to spend more time at this site, but sadly the bus was waiting.
Yet another example of early engineering, the Corinth Canal, which after numerous early attempts, the emporer Nero apparently turned the first sod with a golden pickaxe. The goal was to cut through the narrow Isthmus of Coritnth literally between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic gulf in the Aegean to save navigation time around the Peloponnese. It was completed in 1893, after a lot of failed attempts because of geological and financial problems. it is excavated down to sea level , so lochs are not needed, however it is narrow and not very deep, so is really only suited to barge type vessels. It was damaged during WW2 but then repaired.
So after all this adventure, time to arrive in Athens. We found some food, apparently french fries are universal!
We ate it all up anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment