Ilium in the Argolid (or, what I did on my holidays)

At the start of the month we braved the July heat to return to Greece - this time, to explore some of the sites across (and around) the plain of Argos. The region is packed full of amazing archaeological sites and some lovely smaller museums. Here are a few of the sites and sights that we visited that could be inspiring for wargamers/builders of model Bronze Age walls...

Bronze Age/Late Helladic sites in the area were the focus of our trip and really it was a bit of a study of cyclopaean architecture. There are four very impressive Mycenaean citadels overlooking the Argive plain. Mycene to the north, Midea to the east, Tiryns to the south, and Argos to the west. From book 2 of the Iliad we know that Agamemnon was supposed to have ruled at Mycenae (and further north), while Argos and Tiryns were ruled by Diomedes. Midea is not mentioned in the Iliad, but feels more at home with Argos and Tiryns.

Mycenae

Lion Gate and cyclopaean walls.

Modern guardian of the gate.

Grave Circle A, where Schliemann got over excited and claimed to have gazed on the face of Agamemnon...

Cistern.

Postern gate.

Long shot of the citadel.

Dedication left in a later temple of Ares Enyalios, just to the north of Mycenae - a bronze shield with an inscription that very roughly reads: The Argives to the gods, from Pyrrhos. It appears to have been part of the booty captured from Pyrrhos' army following his death during the Epeirote attack on Argos in 273 BC. Not Bronze Age, but an amazing surprise to see.

Midea

Cyclopaean walls.

View from the acropolis.

West Gate.

Tiryns

Cyclopaean walls.

Middle Gate.

Middle Gate (but from above).

Outer walls.

Argos (Larisa/Larissa)

Larisa - the acropolis of Argos.

View of the Aspidos hill (Classical/Hellenistic Argos) and the modern city from Larisa.

Multi-layered fortifications, with 'proper' Classical and Hellenistic ashlar blocks at the bottom, and successive Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian and Ottoman layers above.

... and right at the bottom, still visible in a few places, Mycenaean cyclopaean walls!

Dendra

We visited a couple of Bronze Age cemeteries including Dendra. There are more than a dozen chamber tombs and a tholos there - most of them in good shape. The irony is that the tomb in the worst condition (i.e. little more than an open hole in the ground now) is tomb 12, where the Dendra panoply was found. The armour itself is now on display in the lovely little museum at Nafplio.

Dendra tomb 1.

Dendra tomb 12.

Dendra panoply and other material from tomb 12.

Dendra panoply and other material from tomb 12.

Mycenaean bridge at Arkadio
We managed to see one of the two Mycenaean bridges still standing in the Argolid. Photos never do it justice - it's quite an impressive piece of engineering and still standing after 3,200 years or so.

This post is already over-long and picture heavy, but it gives a taste of the Myceanaean/Late Helladic sites on offer in the Argolid. We also visited the likes of the Argive Heraion, Corinth, Nemea and Mantineia while we were in the area but that is, perhaps, for another time.