Mycenae

The Lion Gate is among the earliest large-scale monumental sculpture known in Greece, and walking under it means walking through the same doorway that Agamemnon's armies marched through, if the legend is true. Two lions, their heads long gone, stand above the lintel, heraldic, eternal. The gate is built from stones so massive that later Greeks believed only the Cyclops could have lifted them — the Mycenaeans were called 'Cyclopean' because of it. The climb to the citadel is best made early, through the postern gate and up the stone ramp to the palace at the summit. The view from the top is the reason this place was chosen: a sweeping command of the Argive plain all the way to the sea, every road and pass visible. You can see why Agamemnon's people were the masters of Bronze Age Greece. Below the palace, the shaft graves of Grave Circle A were discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, and he found there what he was sure was the death mask of Agamemnon — a gold mask with a face so calm and imperious it seems to be watching whoever stands before it. The mask is in Athens now (Schliemann famously telegraphed the Greek king: 'I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon'), but walking into the tomb of Atreus — the great beehive tomb cut into the hillside — produces the same shiver. It is a vault of stone thirty feet high, perfectly silent, and standing in it one thinks: this is how they buried their kings.

Mycenae was the capital of the most powerful kingdom of Mycenaean Greece, the civilization that dominated the Aegean from about 1600 to 1100 BC. The citadel was first fortified around 1350 BC, and its rulers grew rich on trade, bronze, and war. In Homer's epics, Mycenae is the city of Agamemnon, the 'king of kings' who led the Greeks to Troy — and while Homer wrote centuries after the events, modern archaeology has shown that the Mycenaeans really did have the power and wealth the poems describe. The Lion Gate, built around 1250 BC, was the main entrance to the citadel, and its famous sculpture is a symbol of royal power: two lions flanking what is usually read as a heraldic device rather than, as older scholarship assumed, a column standing for the palace. Inside the walls stood the royal palace, the megaron with its throne room, storerooms packed with pithoi (storage jars) of oil and wine, and workshops. The shaft graves of Grave Circle A and B, and the tholos tombs (the great beehive tombs such as the Treasury of Atreus), contained extraordinary grave goods — gold masks, inlaid daggers, jewelry, and vessels — that reveal a warrior aristocracy of dazzling wealth. Mycenaean power collapsed around 1100 BC, part of the wider Bronze Age collapse that ended the great civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean. The site was abandoned and, in the historical period, remembered as a place of legend. It was excavated by Schliemann in the 1870s and then systematically by Greek and British archaeologists; the Cyclopean walls and the Lion Gate stand as they did 3,000 years ago. Mycenae was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

The name is recorded by Stephanus of Byzantium in the sixth century AD. His Ethnica is not a book of stories but a dictionary of Greek place-names, and for this one it says: "It is named from Mykeneus, son of Sparton, brother of Phoroneus". "Or from the sword-case of Perseus, on whose falling by Hermes' command he founded the city; or from Io the cow lowing there". (Ethnica, s.v. Μυκῆναι).

That is the whole of what an ancient source has to say about how the place got its name. It is a shorter answer than the guidebooks give, and it is the only one with a source behind it.

The Argolid is the heartland of Peloponnesian cooking, and Mycenae is surrounded by some of Greece's best produce. The plain below the citadel grows oranges, olives, and vines, and the village of Fichti and the nearby towns of Argos and Nafplio have tavernas serving the regional classics. Start with the local olive oil and a village salad, then move on to the Argolid's signature dishes: kontosouvli, pork slow-grilled on a spit with oregano and thyme; kleftiko, lamb baked in parchment with potatoes and garlic; and revithia, chickpeas slow-cooked in the oven until they collapse into a silky stew. The region is also home to the Agiorgitiko grape of Nemea — a velvety red that the locals pair with everything from lamb to grilled cheese. Finish with a spoon sweet made from the local oranges and a cup of Greek coffee. The best tables are in Nafplio, the beautiful seafront town 30 minutes away, but the simple tavernas under the shade of the citadel have a view no restaurant can match.

Spring (April to June) and autumn (September to October) are ideal — the citadel is exposed on its hilltop, and the summer sun is fierce on the bare limestone. Visit early in the morning (opening is at 8 am) or late in the afternoon, when the low light makes the Cyclopean walls glow and the shadows give the site its dramatic, Homeric feel. Winter is mild and very quiet — a good time for a solitary walk through the ruins, but check that the site is open and the paths are dry after rain.

Mycenae lies about 11 km north of Argos and roughly 20-25 km from Nafplio, close to half an hour by road, which makes the Peloponnese's main port the usual base. From Athens the drive is about 120 km, taking the A8 to the Corinth Canal and then the A7 into the Argolid. There is no passenger train to Argos or Nafplio; the nearest station on a working line is Corinth, served by Hellenic Train's Piraeus-Kiato suburban services, and KTEL Argolida runs buses out of Nafplio.

Arrive early and walk the full circuit: through the Lion Gate, up to the palace, around the walls, and down to the beehive tombs. Allow two to three hours. The Treasury of Atreus is a short walk or drive from the citadel — do not skip it; standing inside the great vault is one of the most atmospheric moments in Greece. The gold death mask of Agamemnon and the finest finds are in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens; the on-site museum holds the rest, including Linear B tablets. Combine Mycenae with Epidaurus, 45 minutes away, and the fortress-town of Nafplio for a full day in the Argolid. Wear sturdy shoes — the climb is steep and the stones are worn smooth. Bring water. And when you stand at the Lion Gate, look up at the two headless lions and think about this: every visitor for 3,000 years has walked under them, and they have watched them all. The gate has never fallen.