The Palace of Nestor is, along with Mycenae and Tiryns, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Minoan civilization and of Ancient Greece. It is not only the best preserved palace of that civilization, but where the most information has been found about it, thanks to the discovery of clay tablets, written in Linear B.
On our day’s adventure we are going to explore in detail the known as “Palace of Nestor”, visit briefly the palace of Iklaina in the vicinity, as well as Minoan tombs in the area.
In our day adventure, we are going to do a circular hike in the Pylos area and the Navarino Bay, which combines history and nature in a quite unique way.
We are going to visit the Voidokoilia beach, a beach with one of the most striking landscapes in Greece, Nestor’s cave, a huge cave and probably a sanctuary; the Navarino castle, also known as Paleokastro, the Gialova wetland, where you can see many birds, including storks and flamingos and finally we are going to visit a Mycenaean tomb attributed to the son of Nestor, the wise king of Pylos according to Homer’s Iliad.
Today we return to the Peloponnese to visit the archaeological site of Tiryns.
Tiryns (in ancient Greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα) is an archaeological site of Mycenaean in the Argolida prefecture of the Peloponnese peninsula, some kilometers north of Napflio.
The kingdom of Orchomenus was the eternal enemy of its neighbor to the east, Thebes, and included this city as well as the lands occupied by the lake Copai and the island-fortress of Gla.
In this video, we visit the Mycenaean and Hellenistic ruins of Orchomenus.
The archaeological site of Lerna is one of the most unknown and most fascinating in Greece.
It was a small village in the Peloponnese, not far from Tiryns and Mycenae, which is older than these 2 and older than the Pyramids of Egypt.
The site has been inhabited from 8000 years ago until the Mycenaean period and with human activity until the Roman period, when it was finally abandoned.
The most important ruins is the “house of the tiles” which is believed to have been a government building of the time, from 2500BC to 2250BC, when a fire destroyed it and a sacred mound was built on top of the ruins.
The house was desecrated 2 times, with 2 tombs 1000 years later, in the Mycenaean period.
The site includes the ruins of a house, from 5900BC, remains of a wall as well as other Mycenaean period ruins.
In mythology, Lerna was known as the lair of the Hydra, the multi-headed aquatic serpent, which lived in a swampy lake, which unfortunately no longer exists.
We explored the Mycenaean cemetery of Aidonia, located in the northeastern Peloponnese of Greece, near Mycenae and Nemea, as well as Lake Stymphalia.
In the video, we show the 25 tombs in the cemetery, plus 7 other tombs we found nearby.
The cemetery is very well maintained and is open to the public free of charge.
A visit takes between one and one and a half hours.
The cemetery contains almost exclusively chambered tombs, which are entirely hewn from the natural rock and consist of an elongated corridor leading from the ground surface to the underground entrance, through which one enters the burial chamber.
Chambered tombs were used throughout the Mycenaean era (c. 1600/1550-1100 BC) and are often arranged in separate groups.
Unlike other tombs of the same style and period, these are more elaborate, with vertical walls, gabled roofs, and ornate entrances.
The cemetery became famous after it was brutally looted by organized groups of antiquities dealers in the 1970s.
An excavation by the Archaeological Service followed, unearthing finds that were linked to the products of the illegal excavation when these became available for sale abroad in 1993.
The Greek state’s swift action led to the repatriation of the antiquities (1996), which were presented along with the excavation finds to the National Archaeological Museum and are now housed in the Nemean Archaeological Museum.
Numerous relics were found, primarily clay vessels and figurines.
The tomb in the lower group had been used repeatedly, not only during the Mycenaean period, but also during the Geometric and Archaic periods and later.
This video explores the ruins outside the Mycenae archaeological site, which include Mycenaean tombs, including the Tomb of the Demon (or Tomb of Orestes), the Tomb of the Low Furnace, the Tomb of the High Furnace, and the Tomb of the Little Virgin, Mycenaean cemeteries, a fountain (now dry), and a bridge.
Mycenae (Μυκῆναι, in ancient Greek) is an archaeological site located in the Peloponnese peninsula.
Among its most visible remains are the cyclopean walls of the ruins of the acropolis and funerary constructions, such as the so-called Treasury of Atreus.
It was declared, along with the archaeological site of Tiryns, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.
On our day’s adventure, we are going to explore the Micenaean bridges, considered the oldest bridges in the world, with more than 3000 years of existence.
Known as the bridges of Arkadiko, these 3 bridges were part of a road that connected Micenae and Tiryns, with the port of Epidauro.
These 3 bridges are located in the Peloponnese, in Greece.
They are known as Ardadiko, Kazarma and Petrogefyri.
