Lions gate

I was planning on not staying for too long in the Bronze Age as it's rather far from my own field (Even though I constantly try to re-read "Greek art and archaeology" and never get any further than the archaic age). But before leaving this field I need to share some pictures.

This is the very famous lions gate in Mycenae, constructed about 1250 BC, which was the principal entrance to the citadel. It's a very advanced defensive system where the wall on the right side is build not to incorporate any part of the city but to allow the defenders to attack any invader from a third side. The gate would surely be all but impenetrable.

A fun fact is that the style of masonry used here is called cyclopean. This is an ancient (read: classical) term as the ancient Greeks themselves considered it impossible for humans to build walls out of the massive stones used. The only explanation they had then was that it must have been Cyclops that constructed these walls.