Mycenae

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19 September 2014

The day it was announced that the Scottish people had voted to stay in the United Kingdom by a majority of 55%!t(MISSING)o 45%! (MISSING)

We thought by now we could have been ruined out but every site we have been to has been interesting and impressive in its own way, usually built at a different time by a different civilisation and used for a different purpose.

Today we went to Mycenae, the walled citadel of Agamemnon, built with immense skill and fortitude by the Mycenaeans who lived between 1600 and 1100 BC. There were two things which particularly impressed us. Firstly the huge Treasury of Atreus, the finest tholos tomb in existence with an interior 13m high and 14.5m diameter, the largest dome built for over 1000 years. Secondly a cistern providing water for the city reached by a steep underground passage with 100 steps. Both extraordinary engineering achievements.

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