Wednesday Walk - A Touch Of Ancient History in Mycenae, Greece

Spring does its own thing, and it's quite different from the usual signs of winter. More and more often I catch myself dreaming of a face warmed by the sun, windows that are wide open at night and a light dress on myself. Earth begins to smile with flowers and greenery escapes to freedom, rushes, foams and finally floods the whole city. Some completely new inspirations are swimming in my head.

When I go for a walk, I always see something new, but at the same time, I get a somewhat strange feeling. It seems that I have returned somewhere, I have discovered something old and belonging only to me, although a few weeks ago I did not even know it existed.

Then I start doing new things more and more firmly, I look at the world more and more boldly, I hear my own voice more and more confidently, and my days become different from each other. They are separated by small details, small adventures and small feats, but they happen.

And this Wednesday is different from other ones too: we had a walk in Mycenae.

Ancient Mycenae. A whole stage in the history of Ancient Greece. From here King Agamemnon went to fight with Troy, and here he was killed after returning with victory. Experts write that the palace was of amazing beauty - in the traditions of the Cretan-Minoan culture.

Gold-abundant Mycenae... City of the 16th-14th centuries. BC. A city that became a legend back in Ancient Greece. When Homer composed the Iliad, Mycenae no longer existed. When the excavations under the leadership of Schliemann brought results, the effect was the same as if they had now found the Far Far Away Kingdom or, say, Valhalla.

Even the ancient Greeks believed that the walls of Mycenae were not built by people, but by the Cyclops. Only they could pile such huge stones one on top of the other. Only it wouldn’t occur to them to process the stones before doing this. Indeed, the city walls consist of huge stones of different sizes, which at first glance are not matched to each other. But what power! And it was built by people who didn't even know iron.

The citadel stands on a high mountain with very beautiful views. When the city was built, the sea was much closer. At many sites there are diagrams and explanations of the areas of the citadel being examined.

The preservation of the citadel is low, and a modern tourist, spoiled by the volume of visual images from the Internet, will be bored. It’s good if you’re lucky with the weather like we had. The space here is open and the winds of the Aegean Sea, I think, blow well here in winter. When visiting, you should immediately take into account that the complex is open only until 15:00! It's easy to get there by car - no problem at all. And there is a lot of space to walk around.

There is parking at the entrance. You can park on the side of the road or in the lower parking lot too.

Ticket costs 8 euros, for children - 4. You enter the citadel, the treasury of Atreus, and the museum.

The first thing you see is the Lion Gate, which you have most likely already seen on the Internet. Lions, archaeologists believe, were a symbol of the Atrid dynasty, having found similar ones on coins nearby. It's nearby on the right as you enter. Here the restless Heinrich Schliemann found the royal tombs in 1874. 10-20 tons stone blocks in the walls make a strong impression.

In the so-called circle, he found 6 burials with 19 bodies with a lot of decorations. The total weight of gold was 13 kg. The coolest find was the golden death mask of Agamemnon. The mask inow is in the Archaeological Museum of Athens. In order not to frustrate visitors to Mycenae, a copy was placed in the museum.

Let's return to the tombs and the palace. The palace burned down around 1200 BC, and after 100 years it was abandoned until Schliemann found it. Some buildings bear the names of mythical characters - the graves of Clytemnestra - the wife of Agamemnon, who killed him and his mistress - the famous Cassandra.

When finishing your tour of the citadel and taking a last look at the majestic Lion Gate with two headless lions, do not forget to visit the museum. It is small, but very, I would say, elegant, although the main exhibits are in Athens.