Saturday, 7 March 2020

Mycenaean Citadels - An Introduction

Many of you may have seen in person or via a documentary or online Mycenae in Greece which is the Classic example of a Mycenaean Citadel.
 There however many others well and lesser known which I'll be discussing in this series.
Some of them are lesser known because earthquakes tumbled the higher walls and temples or churches or castles were built on top of them. 
I'll be taking a look at Argos Tiryns Orchomenos and a few other sites like Kalogria which I believe to be Myrsinos. 
First a few common features Ive noticed.
They are near rivers or what were major roads in the past. 
They have a clear line of sight of other citadels harbors or passes. 
Lower towns or villages tend to be on one side of the citadel not surrounding it completely. 
A preference for oval shapes.
Unlike Celtic Roman or mediaeval  castles and fortresses
 No moats or ditches even where terrain would allow such.
Cyclopean foundations.

Join me for this series 
Our first stops will be ...
Well come back and found out ! 

1 comment:

  1. The locations do seem to be well thought out, IMO. It makes sense to build where there is water and where you can defend towns around, or maybe the villages were built BECAUSE the citadels were there. Not sure about the lack of moats. You probably know that Middle Eastern Crusader castles didn’t have them because there isn’t much water out there, the rainy season is only about half the year, or less.

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