The first picture of the post is actually the last shot of our visit. Brilliant sun, blue sky and a spring vibe all over it. Exactly as the day itself started and ended. Exactly as all the previous days and the next ones too. But not during our visit.
As we were driving, last Sunday, from the town of Nafplio to the archeological site of Mikines, the sky turned grey and it remained that way for all the hours that we were there. Not that it spoiled our experience, not at all but I was sure that this time I would have taken some pictures with sunshine since for some weird reason the weather was never been good all the last times that I was there. Apparently it wasn't meant to be!
One of the most famous and imposing archeological sites of Greece, Mikines or Mycenae as you'll probably find it if you google it (I have never quite understood the way Greek names are rendered in the Latin alphabet) is part of UNESCO's World Heritage List and a place you shouldn't miss, if your are ever in the area.
I am quoting from UNESCO's site:
The citadel of Mycenae, with its strategic position for the control of the Argolid Plain, is the kingdom of the mythical Agamemnon and the most important and richest palatial centre of the Late Bronze Age in Greece. Its name was given to one of the greatest civilizations of Greek prehistory, the Mycenaean civilization, while the myths related to its history, its rulers and their family members (such as Klytaimnestra, Ifigeneia, Elektra, Orestes) have inspired poets, writers and artists over many centuries, from the ancient to the contemporary times. Significant stages in monumental architecture are still visible in the property, such as the massive defensive walls, the corbelled tholos tombs and the Lions Gate.
source
Have you noticed how small people look next to that gigantic stones of the fortification walls or under the entrance gate? Those constructions are unearthly even with modern standards, let alone if you considered that they were made more than 3.000 years ago!
On the top of the hill were the royal palace with the view that you can see in the picture above. So many things have change over the millenniums that have pass since the peak of that extraordinary civilization but I am sure that the mountains, far away on the horizon, are pretty much the same!
As I was wandering around taking photos and soaking up the history of the place, I noticed a man coming out of a dark opening in a wall. The info sign next to it, informed us that it is an underground water reservoir. It didn't sound scary but neither comfortable. Nevertheless we entered for a couple of minutes, took a few more shots and continued our stroll!
After a circular route we were back at the gate. The sky was just starting to clear but the site was about to close in a while and we still had to see the museum and the most famous tholos tomb that lies a few hundreds meters away. But that's for a another post.
I hope I managed to give you a small "taste" of this mesmerizing location with my pictures. A post can never replace an actual visit though, even if it was ten times bigger than my own :)
The camera that I used is a Canon EOS 6D mark II with almost all my lenses!
EF 16-35mm f4L, EF 24-105mm f4L and my favourite oldie from the 80s, a black EF 80-200 f2.8L
I edited the photographs in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic .
All the pictures and the words are mine.
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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