Mycenae

 Oct 7

In preparing for every trip I take, I look up places to eat. It’s generally a waste of time. I’d looked up breakfast places here, but we never made it past a taverna patio on this town’s Syntagma Square (Nafplio was the capital of Greece before that function was moved to Athens; Syntagma means “constitution”.) Greek restaurants are brilliant at breakfast for those of us who want a hearty protein meal to start the day. We tend to eat at the same place every morning in whatever town we’re in. 

View at breakfast

Today, our trip was to Mycenae. supposed home of Agamemnon, who, if he ever existed, led the Greeks in the Trojan War. Whether he existed or not, I was really excited to visit the site of the famous Lion Gate. Unlike for the mask of Agamemnon in the Athens museum, for the gate I shed a few tears. I think it’s all the stories, and the photos; when I see a thing live, it moves me. 

This gate is well known by people who visit Mycenae — it’s probably the reason they’ve come. Nevertheless, there were no crowds gawking at the gate, just a few of us wanting a photo without people in it. We were moderately successful, which makes me think that the tour guides don’t linger, but hustle their groups through. I don’t know, and I try not to be cynical.

I sent a photo of the Lion Gate to John as soon as I saw it, as he is very familiar with these antiquities. We’re ten hours ahead of home, so he was ready for bed. His response: “Ooooooooo man!” and then, “Am I supposed to sleep after seeing that?”  Yeah, it’s kind of a big deal.

Through the gate, we climbed to the top of the acropolis, where rooms were clearly defined on the ground, but not much still exists above ground level. There were more gates like the Lion Gate but smaller and without the lions, and an underground cistern.

Stairs leading to an underground cistern

And the stairs back into the sun

We came across some young Spanish women goofing around taking glam photos of one their friends at a gate. They were apologetic that they kept us waiting, but we were enjoying their fun. They offered to take our photos, and we all shared a laugh as we struck the same poses.

One amazing structure is still standing, a testament to the engineering skill of the Mycenaeans. This Tomb of Clytemnestra is a huge beehive-like structure, now underground, built  in the 13th  Century BCE.

Entrance to the tomb

Wide angle shot; it's hard to portray a sense of how immense the space is

That central point may look like it hangs down, but it's a deep peak in the top of the dome

There was a small museum on site, with a lot of panels about the history of the site, a replica of Agamemnon's mask (the one I saw in Athens) and a few artifacts.

A few pots and the remains of a fresco

 

 We returned to Nafplio for a gelato lunch and to laze about, walk about, all that.

Bougainvillea shedding blossoms, and cat

Our apartment on the left, famous gelateria on the right

Morning view from our apartment balcony

Syntagma Square in the evening, when the kids come out to play