Fortifications of Mycenae

The fortifications of Mycenae rise on a cliff in the Argolid, built with the massive Cyclopean masonry that later Greeks could scarcely believe was human work. The citadel flourished in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, sheltering not only the elite within its walls but also the farmers of the surrounding plain. Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann first excavated here in the 1870s, opening the way for more than a century of inquiry, including work in the lower city from 1980 to 2014. Partial walls remain, alongside traces of Hellenistic houses and a theatre.