Carving of lions on the Lion Gate pediment
Carving of Lions
Located above the lintel of the Lion Gate is the pediment with two beautifully carved headless lions standing majestically on either side of a pillar. Experts believe that the original sculpture had the metal heads on the body of the lions.
Built in the 13th century BCE, the Lion Gate is the entrance to the citadel at Mycenae and part of the Cyclopean Wall that surrounds it.
It belonged to the Mycenaens, a mysterious late bronze-age civilization that rose from nowhere around 1900 BCE, flourished mostly in the Peloponnese peninsula, and then disappeared suddenly around 1100 BCE. Whatever little we know about the Mycenaean civilization is fascinating.
Pausanias (110 -180 CE), a Greek traveler and historian, wrote about the Lion Gate in his book, Descriptions of Greece, which was used by the archaeologists to identify the Mycenae citadel.
Related Images
– Lion Gate
– Cyclopean Wall
– Grave Circle A
– Layout of the Mycenae Palace
– Palace Wall
– A Cistern
– Entrance to the underground cistern
– Entrance to the Tomb of Agamemnon
– Roof of Tomb of Agamemnon
– A wall on the passageway at the entrance to the Tomb of Agamemnon
– Tomb of Agamemnon Interior
Related Pages
– Mycenaean Civilization, Minoan Civilization
– Athens, Olympia, Delphi, Meteora, Crete, Greek Islands, Greece
– Ephesus
Copyright © 2017 – 2020 by Lawrence Rodrigues. All rights reserved.