Mycenae, named in the Homeric epics (the Iliad and the Odyssey), is a critically important site of ancient civilization.
Paris explored widely. He found the "secret spring," the cunningly-built water source that sustained the Mycenean citadel.
After exploring the citadel, we all entered the Treasury of Atreus, one of the most famous tholos tombs at Mycenae.
Cora took many pictures during our visit at Mycenae--she's one of our most active student photographers!
Alex and Claire enjoyed the architecture of the tomb--it looks like a beehive, with the walls becoming more narrowly rounded as you approach the top. We all played with the strange acoustic effects the walls created.
Later, we picnicked and enjoyed some time on a beautiful beach at Nafplion.
Then, we explored Palamidi Castle, a fortress built during the Venetian and Turkish occupations of Greece in the early 18th century, later repurposed as a prison after Greek independence in the early 19th century.
The castle has many stairs inside, and there is also an exterior flight of stairs that goes all the way from the castle to the beach below--it's said there are 999 stairs! Some students chose to descend to the beach using the stairs, while the rest of the students went by bus.
We broke into small groups to look around the town of Nafplion, and then we met up as a larger group again and had an excellent traditional dinner, before driving the two hours back to Athens. It was a long day, and a good one!
Photos by Hannah Welch
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