Mycenae and Midea, Greece Week 114 June 2nd 2013
                       
From our hill top we noticed the terraces.

And the circular platform.

Reminiscent of the areas used for threshing near the Agadirs in Morocco.

 
And a look at Lagkadia in the early morning sun.
 
Greece has been a surprise to us.

We didn't expect so many mountains.

And then we didn't expect the changes from dry to fertile, and back again.

We've reached that part of the travels where we have a few ancient sites to visit. We've decided to tackle more than one a day in the hope we can have at least a couple more days at the beach.

 
The new village of Mikines near old Mycenae was another challenging maze of narrow streets.

Somehow tour buses navigate their way.

 
To Mycenae.

The centre of the Mycenaean world from 16th to 12th century BC.

After the Minoans came the Mycenaeans.

The Mediterranean was powered by city states.

 
The main gate.

In the good old days in Greece ancient monuments were free admission on Sundays.

Now it seems everyone wants to visit on Sunday and they pay for the privilege.

There's a carving of two lions above the Lion Gate.

 
We approached the car park with some trepidation.

Not as bad as it looks.

An anticlockwise flow. The new arrivals disgorge their passengers and join the flow.

By the time the passengers return their bus has reached the front.

We are parked at the edge. The bus drivers helped us join the flow to extricate ourselves.

The bus guides are less organised and block the entrance and ticket office while assembling their flock who mill around like headless chooks.

 
Part of a grave circle.

Royal tombs.

 
The palace is at the high point of the hill.
 
A commanding all round view.
 
The house of columns at the north west corner.
 
The wall construction is Cyclopean.

Limestone boulders with no mortar.

Only the mythical giant cyplops, each with a single eye, had the strength to move the stones.

The gate in the north wall has a corbelled arch.

 
As did the steps down to the cistern.

We forgot the torch so didn't get all the way to the cistern.

 
The north gate.
 
The museum was a tad crowded.

A mixture of pottery, bronze, and good descriptions of part of the life and times.

Not the columns and sculptures of later sites.

 
The entrance to the Lion Tholos tomb.

Behind Ali is a circular enclosure which looks like the roof was domed.

Almost a very large dolmen.

 
And now for something completely different.

Midea was the third centre of the Mycenae Argolid (area of Greece).

Mycenae, Tiryns and Midea.

 
Not much left besides the massive walls.
 
The East gate.
 
And the West Gate.
 
But another superb imposing position.
 
And the familiar cyclopean walls.

More than 7m high and 5-7m wide.

 
Driving a right hand drive vehicle on the right side of the road has its challenges.

Right hand corners can be a challenge with limited visibility.

The navigator has the job of shouting "car" when any sort of obstacle becomes visible.

We got a hint of "a rock on the road".

 
From Mycenae we are headed to Corinth.

But first another "top of the mountain" camp site.

 
Epidavros, Ancient Corinth, Acrocorinth, Corinth Canal, Greece Week 114 June 3rd 2013
 
Gateway
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