Greece 2021

Tuesday16November

About a hundred kilometers from Sparta, here we are in Mycenae.
"Mycenae is a pre-Hellenic ancient city from the Bronze Age surrounded by fortifications in Cyclopean walls (assembly of huge stone blocks). © Wikipedia

The Lion Gate that can be guessed on the pediment of the door. We especially notice the absence of heads, never found.  

A large pit encircled by stone walls where graves were discovered.

The stairs of the cistern.

The tomb of Aegisthus whose dome has disappeared. Originally, this tholos of 13 meters in diameter extended towards the sky in the rounded form of a dome 13 meters high.

The tomb of Clytemnestra. This tholos which unlike the previous one still has its dome. The interior is quite amazing with all these stone blocks stacked from floor to ceiling.

The second circle of tombs, some of which are around 2800 years old...

The Tomb of the Lion. The dome of this tholos reached 15 meters high.

Passage through the small museum.

Fresco of the woman with sheaves of wheat (between 1250-1180 BC).

Anthropomorphic statues.

Statue with articulated legs (end of the 6th century BC).

500 meters from the main site, we find the largest tholos in Mycenae. This tomb undoubtedly contained royal figures of the region.

The large room 13 meters high and 14 meters in diameter.

The entrance to the small room where the tombs were located.

Details of cyclopean stones, some of which are adorned with engraved graffiti.

The dome is solid, you can even walk on it. It is completely covered with earth and greenery. The openwork triangle capping the lintel allowed to lighten the weight above the entrance and to place a decorative plaque there.

That's it for Mycenae! We can hit the road again and look for a place to sustain ourselves... We are joining the city of Nafplio, 20 minutes from here.

The statue of Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776-1831), assassinated in Nafplio. The city was the capital of the country for 3 years until 1832.

The old fortress overlooking the city from the top of Palamidi Hill. We will go visit it later, by the stairs...  

On the port, moored on 88 meters of quay, a superb sailboat catches the eye with its masts all sails hidden... This is the "Maltese Falcon". It is the second largest private luxury sailboat in the world... The 1st being its big twin brother the "Black Pearl" which measures 18 meters more.

The masts are made of carbon fibers and each contain five rectangles of sails that can be taken out automatically.

The flag of the island of Malta.

It is not today that we will take the Maltese Falcon, so without waiting, we summon up our courage and launch ourselves into the ascent of the 900 steps whose stairs we see winding along the cliff.  

Here we are on the steps with the pretty view of Nafplio.

The 88 meters of the Maltese Falcon do not go unnoticed...

Phew, finally arrived inside the fortress.

Oh well damn, we could have come by car...   Oh well, at least we will have strengthened our little calves that way.

Whoa, a nest of prickly pears!

The fortress was built between 1711 and 1715.

There, all that remains is to go back down the way we came up...

The Maltese Falcon is being cleaned. With harness and ropes ("lines" actually)!

Night is about to fall, it is high time to reach the hotel we booked a bit earlier. It is about twenty kilometers away, near Epidaurus, our next stop.

Our duplex room at "Hani Inn".