Sounio Trip Overview
Venture south of Athens to discover highlights of the Peloponnese. Cross the Corinth Canal to leave mainland Greece and explore Mycenae, one of the ancient world’s most noteworthy cultures, home to mythical King Agamemnon, in a country steeped in history. The region that was destined to give birth to one of antiquity’s most important civilizations, the Mycenaean. The “cyclopean walls” of the citadel of Mycenae, impressively intact to this day, highlight the heyday of a civilization brought to light by Heinrich Schliemann. A civilization that served as inspiration to the great ancient tragedians that subsequently helped shape western thought. The Lion Gate, a remarkable example of Mycenaean sculpture; grave circle A with its shaft tombs and golden funerary finds; the palace atop the citadel with its throne room; the underground water cistern with its ornate stairs and the beehive tombs (“tholos”) all give proof of the grandeur of an era that has left indelible marks throughout the ages.
Additional Info
Duration: 5 to 6 hours
Starts: Sounio, Greece
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Historical & Heritage Tours
Explore Sounio Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Sounio, Attica, Greece
Venture south of Athens to discover highlights of the Peloponnese. Cross the Corinth Canal to leave mainland Greece and explore Mycenae, one of the ancient world’s most noteworthy cultures, home to mythical King Agamemnon, in a country steeped in history. The region that was destined to give birth to one of antiquity’s most important civilizations, the Mycenaean. The “cyclopean walls” of the citadel of Mycenae, impressively intact to this day, highlight the heyday of a civilization brought to light by Heinrich Schliemann. A civilization that served as inspiration to the great ancient tragedians that subsequently helped shape western thought. The Lion Gate, a remarkable example of Mycenaean sculpture; grave circle A with its shaft tombs and golden funerary finds; the palace atop the citadel with its throne room; the underground water cistern with its ornate stairs and the beehive tombs (“tholos”) all give proof of the grandeur of an era that has left indelible marks throughout the ages.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Corinth Canal, Isthmia, Loutraki 201 00 Greece
The Corinth Canal connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnese from the Greek mainland, arguably making the peninsula an island. The canal was dug through the isthmus at sea level and has no locks. It is 6.4 kilometres (4 mi) in length and only 21.4 metres (70 ft) wide at its base, making it impassable for many modern ships.
From high up, you can enjoy the best view of Corinth’s isthmus and admire the steep limestone walls while you observe the vessels below you navigate their way through the canal.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Mycenae, Mycenae, Argolis Region, Peloponnese
The fortified citadel of ancient Mycenae, the seat of the mythical and mighty King Agamemnon. An impressive and well-preserved site, the city of Mycenae gave its name to an entire civilization. Admire sites such as the Tomb of Clytemnestra, the infamous Lion’s Gate, the Cyclopean walls and learn of their blood-stained past. In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece, Crete, the Cyclades and parts of southwest Anatolia. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Archaeological Site Mycenae, Mycenae 21200 Greece
The archaeological site of Mycenae comprises the fortified acropolis and surrounding funerary and habitation sites, which are located mainly to its west and southwest. Most of the visible monuments date to the centre’s great floruit, from 1350 to 1200 BC.
Great Cyclopean walls surround the almost triangular acropolis, which is accessed from the northwest through the famous Lion Gate, the symbol of the Mycenaean rulers’ power. The gate was named after the two opposing lions carved in relief and set into the relieving triangle, a typical feature of Mycenaean architecture, over the door.
Duration: 30 minutes
Pass By: Lion Gate, Mycenae Greece
The Lion Gate was the main entrance of the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae, southern Greece. It was erected during the 13th century BC, around 1250 BC, in the northwest side of the acropolis and is named after the relief sculpture of two lionesses or lions in a heraldic pose that stands above the entrance.
The Lion Gate is the sole surviving monumental piece of Mycenaean sculpture, as well as the largest sculpture in the prehistoric Aegean. It is the only monument of Bronze Age Greece to bear an iconographic motif that survived without being buried underground, and the only relief image which was described in the literature of classical antiquity, such that it was well known prior to modern archaeology.
Stop At: Archaeological Museum of Ancient Mycenae, Mycenae Greece
The archaeological site of Mycenae comprises the fortified acropolis and surrounding funerary and habitation sites, which are located mainly to its west and southwest. Most of the visible monuments date to the centre’s great floruit, from 1350 to 1200 BC.
Great Cyclopean walls surround the almost triangular acropolis, which is accessed from the northwest through the famous Lion Gate, the symbol of the Mycenaean rulers’ power. The gate was named after the two opposing lions carved in relief and set into the relieving triangle, a typical feature of Mycenaean architecture, over the door.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Citadel and Treasury of Atreus, Mycenae Greece
The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large tholos or beehive tomb on Panagitsa Hill at Mycenae constructed during the Bronze Age around 1250 BC. The stone lintel above the doorway weighs 120 tons, with approximate dimensions 8.3 x 5.2 x 1.2m, the largest in the world. The tomb was used for an unknown period. Mentioned by the Roman geographer Pausanias in the 2nd century AD, it was still visible in 1879 when the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered the shaft graves under the “agora” in the Acropolis at Mycenae.
Duration: 15 minutes
