Imposing Puerta de los Leones and perfectly execut...

Imposing Puerta de los Leones and perfectly executed circle of tombs.

Mycenae suddenly became the powerful and wealthy center of an unparalleled warrior civilization
The first excavations were carried out by the Greek Kyriakos Pittakis in 1841, who found and rebuilt the Lion's Gate. In 1874, Schliemann, discovered the Circle of Tombs A, with more than 14 kg of gold in masks - 6 of them exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Athens.
Inside the walls we find the Circle of Tombs A, the Palace and the cult center. Outside we found the Circle of Tombs B, and more houses
The walls (8 meters high) were built in a style known as Cyclopean, because the stone blocks used were so huge that in later times they were thought to be the work of the one-eyed giants called Cyclops. The gaps between the large stones are filled with small stones. A first phase of the walls was built around 1350 BC, extended a hundred years later, and again around 1200 BC. They had two gates: the lion gate and the north gate.
The Lion Gate (1250 BC), made up of large blocks of stone and whose lintel is estimated to weigh about 20 tons, is the most characteristic and well-known architectural execution of Mycenae. On the triangular surface that is on it, two lions are represented in relief with their front legs resting on the altar of a Minoan column, which in its day were covered with gold; the emblem of the royal family of Mycenae.

The royal palace (1350-1330 BC) consists of a large central courtyard surrounded by a series of buildings. It was accessed through a propylene. In the east wing of the palace are the "Workshop of the Artists", where it is assumed that the artisans linked to the palace lived and worked.
The Mycenae Worship Center (XIV-XIII BC) is located in the southwestern part of the acropolis. It consists of an eastern sanctuary, which has been called "Temple", where anthropomorphic terracotta statuettes and coiled serpents were found, which are supposed to have been placed on sticks and exhibited in ceremonies; a Megaron or room; a western sanctuary called the 'Fresco Room', believed to have been dedicated to a fertility goddess and where fragments of fresco paintings were found.
The Circle of Tombs A (16th century BC) next to the Puerta de los Leones was the central point of a large prehistoric cemetery that extended downwards, along the slopes It contains 6 vertical grave tombs, where grave goods were found rich funeral homes with marked Cretan influence. Whoever they were buried in these tombs, there is no doubt that they possessed an economic and political power structure unlike anything Greece had ever known.
To the south of these, there are three houses, spaces for housing and storage. An underground cistern from the 13th century BC, 18 meters deep inside the wall, could provide water to the acropolis in case of siege.

In Circle of Tombs B (1650-1550 BC) west of the Acropolis, grave goods were found; It is older, poorer, and older than A. There are 14 vertical pit tombs and another series of small rectangular-shaped tombs carved out of the rock.
On the outside of the acropolis there are several dome tombs that are formed by an open corridor (dromos), a door and a chamber, where the domes are circular and elliptical in elevation. Among them, there are from the 16th century BC, the 15th century BC and the XIII century BC, among which the Atreus (1250 BC) stands out, located on the Panayitsa hill, about 40 meters southwest of the acropolis - a marvel.
Remains of four Mycenaean dwellings are also preserved outside the acropolis, among them the "House of Shields" - where eight-shaped shields were found, the shield of Mycenae.