Mycenae

Mycenae is one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Greece, a Bronze-Age citadel set on a low, rugged hill between two peaks above the Argive plain. It gave its name to an entire civilisation, the Mycenaean world that dominated the Aegean from roughly the 17th to the 12th century BC, and in Greek legend it was the seat of King Agamemnon, who led the Achaeans against Troy. The archaeological sites of Mycenae and nearby Tiryns were together inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

You enter through the celebrated Lion Gate, built around 1250 BC, its lintel crowned by two carved lionesses flanking a column: the oldest monumental sculpture in Europe and an unforgettable first sight. The walls around it are 'cyclopean', made of stone blocks so massive that later Greeks believed only the giant Cyclopes could have raised them. Within the circuit lie Grave Circle A, where the German pioneer Heinrich Schliemann uncovered the gold death masks now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, along with the ruins of the palace, houses and storerooms. A climb to the summit rewards you with a commanding view across the plain to the sea.

Just outside the citadel stands the Treasury of Atreus, also known as the Tomb of Agamemnon, a colossal tholos or beehive tomb built around 1250 BC. Step through its towering doorway into the corbelled stone dome, which remained the largest in the world for more than a thousand years, and the ambition of this vanished culture becomes plain. A good site museum nearby displays pottery, frescoes and finds that flesh out daily life on the acropolis.

Mycenae is comfortably visited as a half-day trip, most often from Nafplio, about half an hour away, and pairs naturally with Epidaurus and ancient Argos. The ground is uneven and largely unshaded, so wear sturdy shoes and come early in summer. Few places bring the deep past to life so powerfully, where myth, archaeology and a sweeping landscape meet on a single windswept hill.