Yannis Divramis 
The Mycenaean civilization was the first great civilization of mainland Greece, rising in the Late Bronze Age and named after Mycenae, its most important centre in the Argolid. Its people spoke an early form of Greek and wrote it in the Linear B script, kept mainly for palace records. Powerful kingdoms grew around fortified citadels, … Read more
The palace of Mycenae crowned the highest point of the citadel, rising above the Lion Gate and the grave circles that guard the slope below. Here the rulers of Mycenae held their seat through the Late Bronze Age, governing the surrounding kingdom from a hall built for command and ceremony. Courtyards, corridors and storerooms spread … Read more
The Mycenae Archaeological Museum stands on the slope of the citadel, a short walk from the Lion Gate, gathering the finds pulled from the site and its cemeteries under one roof. Pottery, painted plaster, figurines, jewellery, bronze weapons and clay tablets fill its cases, arranged to explain how a Bronze Age capital lived, worshipped and … Read more
Mycenae is the great fortified citadel of the Argolid, set on a low hill in the Peloponnese near the modern village of Mykines in southern Greece. The site sits about a two-hour drive from Athens and around half an hour from Nafplio, which makes it an easy heritage stop on any tour of the region. … Read more
The Cyclopean walls of Mycenae are the vast fortification circuit that rings the Bronze Age citadel in the Argolid, in the Peloponnese. Builders raised them from huge, roughly worked limestone boulders set without mortar, the largest weighing tonnes apiece. The scale of the stones stunned later Greeks, who decided that only the giant Cyclopes could … Read more
The Treasury of Atreus, also called the Tomb of Agamemnon, is a great Bronze Age tholos or beehive tomb at Mycenae in the Argolid, in the Peloponnese. Built in the Late Bronze Age, it is the largest and finest of the Mycenaean tholos tombs. A long open passage cut into the hillside leads to a … Read more
The Lion Gate is the main entrance to the Bronze Age citadel of Mycenae, set in the Argolid region of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. A triangular limestone slab above the lintel carries two lions or lionesses flanking a central column, the emblem of Mycenaean art and power. This relief is the oldest known monumental … Read more
Lakki is a mountain village in the Chania district of western Crete, perched on a slope of the White Mountains along the road that climbs from Chania up to the Omalos plateau and the Samaria Gorge. Whitewashed and stone houses stack up the hillside, giving wide views over deep valleys and distant peaks. Cool air, … Read more
Itanos is the site of an ancient city on the far north-east coast of Crete, in the Lasithi district, sitting beside the palm beach of Vai and below the fortified monastery of Toplou. People also call it Erimoupoli, the deserted city, a name that fits the low ruins scattered quietly across a bare headland above … Read more
Kouremenos beach is a long, exposed sweep of sand and pebble on the east coast of Crete. It sits in the Lasithi district near the village of Palekastro, a short hop from the famous palm beach of Vai. This is not a polished resort shore but a wild, sporty bay, scattered with tamarisk trees and … Read more
Vryses is a large, shaded village in the Apokoronas region of western Crete, built around a river fed by mountain springs and lined with tall plane trees. Its central square, where the clear water runs beneath the planes, draws travellers and locals alike for a slow coffee in the cool. Old stone bridges cross the … Read more
Gerakari is a mountain village in the upper Amari valley of the Rethymno district in central Crete, set on the green slopes of Mount Kedros among fruit orchards and running springs. It is known across the whole island for its cherries, celebrated at a summer festival, and for apples and pears grown in the cool … Read more