The fabled Hellenic city of Mycenae was founded in the Bronze Age, between 1350 and 1200 BC. Earlier than that there had been small settlements present on the site, which contained a cemetery and various other burial sites. When the great Mycenaean culture became prevalent circa 1600 BC, the first tholos tombs were erected on the hills surrounding the site. By 1350, work had begun on the palace and fortification walls; the complex which is most visible today. This most notably includes the Lion Gate and its bastion.
However Mycenae saw a steep decline soon thereafter. Following what appears to have been an earthquake in 1200, the city’s walls were extended northeast – but after another quake in 1100 BC, the settlement was abandoned altogether. It would not be until the Classical period, when Homer wrote his epics, that Mycenae garnered attention and was once more a building site – this time for the erection of a temple dedicated to Hera or Athena.
Following the Persian wars in 468 BC, the town was conquered by Argos and a portion of the fortifications was destroyed. A theatre was built atop the hill, but again the town became deserted until the second century AD, when the lauded Greek traveler and geographer Pausanias revisited it. Since then, and thanks to a glut of excavations carried out between 1841 and 1974, Mycenae remains a vast monument to ancient and classical Greek history. Today the city comprises the fortified acropolis and surrounding funerary and habitation sites.
