Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip options are trips through Greece to two sites of Argolis. Mycenae lies near Mykines, while Epidaurus stood on the Argolid Peninsula. Beyond the two big names sit Midea, the Dendra panoply, Asine and the Arkadiko Bridge. Four short answers turn to Lygourio, Tolo, Apollo Maleatas and the Argolic Gulf. Single-site options include Mycenae tours and an Epidaurus tour. Each belongs to the broader family of Greece tours.
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What is a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip?
A Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip joins two ancient places in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Mycenae, now an archaeological site, lies near Mykines in Argolis. An archaeological site is ground where experts dig up and study remains of the past.
In 2011 the Kallikratis reform turned the former prefecture of Argolis into a regional unit. A reform is a planned change to the way a country is run. A prefecture was an older kind of Greek province. Each regional unit is a district inside one of the larger regions of Greece.
Within Argolis, the central part holds the bulk of the arable land. Arable land is ground fit for ploughing and growing crops. The chief farm resources of the unit are oranges and olives. For a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a resource means a supply of wealth such as a crop.
Epidaurus was once a small city, or polis, of the Argolid Peninsula, set on the Saronic Gulf. Within a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a gulf means a deep inlet of the sea. Today the name Epidavros belongs to two modern towns, Nea Epidavros and Palaia Epidavros. In Greek, palaia means old and nea means new.
- Peninsula: A large share of Argolis lies on the Argolid Peninsula, which the sea surrounds on three sides.
- Old borders: In ancient times, the district of Argolis also included Troezen within its borders.
- Name of Epidaurus: Epidauros, a hero and son of Apollo, gave the ancient city its name.
Argolis today shares a tripoint with two other districts, Arcadia and Corinthia. A tripoint is a spot where the borders of three areas meet. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a border means the line where one district ends.
Why does Midea belong in a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip story?
A Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip shares its story with Midea, a Mycenaean citadel. It ranks among the largest and best preserved of its kind. A citadel is a hilltop stronghold built to guard a town. Mycenaean refers to the Bronze Age culture named after Mycenae.
Midea first carried the name Perseuspolis, meaning city of Perseus, after its namesake hero. Within a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a namesake hero is the figure behind a place name. Midea was famed as the home of Electryon, where his daughter Alcmena was born. Alcmena is known best as the mother of Heracles.
In the earliest division of the land, Midea belonged to Proetus, along with the Heraeum and Tiryns. A division here means a sharing out of territory between rulers. Midea also served as the home of Hippodameia during her banishment. Banishment is the forced sending away of a person from home.
Argos destroyed Midea soon after the Greco-Persian Wars. Tiryns is thought to have met the same fate at about that time. The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between Greek states and the Persian Empire. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a conflict means a war between sides.
- Dendra tombs: Nearby Dendra holds a tholos, or beehive tomb, and chamber tombs tied to the site.
- Swedish digs: The Swedish archaeologist Axel W. Persson began the excavations, which the Swedish Institute at Athens continued.
- Palace: The first megaron, or great hall, was destroyed around 1200 BC, together with the settlement.
The remains of Midea, a Bronze Age citadel, stand above the modern village that shares its name. Bronze, the metal behind the name, blends copper with tin. For a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, Midea names both the ruins and the village.
Which bronze armour gives a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip its warrior story?
A Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip draws its warrior story from the Dendra panoply. This Mycenaean-era suit is made of bronze plates. It came to light in the village of Dendra in the Argolid. A panoply is a full suit of body armour.
In 1960, Swedish archaeologists uncovered at Dendra the earliest known beaten bronze cuirass. Its date falls at the end of the 15th century BC. A cuirass is armour that guards the chest and back. Beaten bronze is metal hammered into thin sheets. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, an archaeologist is a student of past remains.
The chest piece and the back piece of the cuirass meet at a hinge on the left side. A hinge is a joint that lets two parts swing open and shut. Two triangular plates are fixed to the shoulder guards. They protected the armpits whenever the wearer raised his arms.
From the waist hang three pairs of curved plates, which shielded the groin and thighs. Thin slivers of boars’ tusks also turned up. They once formed a helmet faced with boars’ tusks. A boar is a wild pig with long tusks. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a sliver means a thin strip.
- Limb guards: The panoply includes greaves, which cover the shins, and lower arm-guards.
- Rare piece: No other arm-guard of this kind is known, while late Mycenaean art shows greaves frequently.
- Written records: Armour of a similar type appears as a sign on Linear B tablets from Knossos, Pylos and Tiryns.
Research on the armour indicates that it suited real use in battle. It was not simply for ceremony, as experts had first assumed. A ceremony is a formal public event. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, research means careful study to find new facts.
Where does Asine fit into a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, and why?
A Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip gains a coastal chapter from Asine. This ancient city lay on the shore of Argolis. It stood on a headland known locally as Kastraki or Paliokastro. A headland, or promontory, is high land jutting into the sea.
The rocky peninsula of Kastraki measures 330 by 150 metres and rises 52 metres above sea level. Its sheltered natural harbour was central to the growth of the city. People first settled on Kastraki in the 3rd millennium BC, during the Early Helladic period. A millennium covers one thousand years.
Tradition says the Dryopes founded the city, a people who first lived on Mount Parnassus. Homer names Asine in the Catalogue of Ships in his Iliad. That list records the cities whose ships joined the Trojan campaign under Diomedes, king of Argos. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, an epic means a lengthy poem on heroic deeds.
In a corner of the central hall of House G, diggers found a stone bench holding cult objects. Among them was a terracotta head from a figurine called the Lord of Asine. For a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, terracotta means baked clay. A figurine is a miniature statue, and cult objects are things used in worship.
- Apollo’s sanctuary: Digging on Barbouna hill found the sanctuary of Apollo Pythaeus, dating from before 725 BC.
- Destruction: The Argives besieged Asine and razed it, sparing only the sanctuary of Apollo.
- Presses: In Hellenistic times, small olive oil and wine presses stood in the Lower Town and on the acropolis.
Since 2020, underwater archaeology at Asine has uncovered traces of a large ancient port. Underwater archaeology is the study of remains beneath the sea. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, a port means a harbour town for ships and cargo.
What does the Arkadiko Bridge add to a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip in Argolis?
A Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip takes a road story from the Arkadiko Bridge. Its other name is the Kazarma Bridge. This Mycenaean bridge stands beside today’s road between Tiryns and Epidauros, in Argolis. A bridge carries a road over a gap.
No preserved bridge in Europe is older. It was built in the Mycenaean period, about 1300–1190 BC, in a typical Cyclopean style. In Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip terms, Cyclopean means made of huge, roughly shaped blocks. Its arch is a corbel arch, with stones that step inward until they meet.
The bridge is 22 metres long, 5.60 metres wide at the base and 4 metres high. It spans a culvert 1 metre wide. A culvert is a channel that lets water pass under a road. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, to span means to stretch across a gap.
The bridge formed part of a military highway between Tiryns and Epidauros. That highway belonged to a wider Greek road network. The layout of the bridge and the line of the road point to use by chariots. A chariot is a fast horse-drawn cart with two wheels. A military highway is a main road built for armies.
- Roadway: The roadway across the bridge is about 2.50 metres wide.
- Sister bridges: Four Mycenaean corbel arch bridges are known near Arkadiko, and this is one of them.
- Petrogephyri: The Petrogephyri bridge crosses the same stream 1 km to the west.
After three thousand years, the bridge is still in local use. Local use means use by people from the surrounding area. On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, three thousand years equal thirty centuries. A century is one hundred years.
What do travellers ask about Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, and what are the answers?
Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip questions turn to four places in the wider Argolid. They cover the town of Lygourio and the village of Tolo. The others are the Sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas and the Argolic Gulf. The Argolid is another name for Argolis.
On a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, where does the name Lygourio come from?
Lygourio is a small town at the foot of Arachnaion Mountain, 370 metres above sea level. It lies near the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. One view traces its name to Elaiogyrion, a word meaning olive factory. In ancient times, the city of Lessa, named by Pausanias, stood on this spot.
What past does Tolo hold for a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip?
Tolo belongs to Asini, a municipal unit, or local district, in Argolis. A royal decree of 1834 founded a city at the Port of Tolon. Its name, Minoa, honoured Minos, a legendary Cretan king. The small church of Zoodochos Pigi there dates from 1688. A decree is a formal order from the state.
For a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip, what is the Sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas?
This sanctuary of Apollo lies on a low hill of Mount Kynortion, east of the Asklepios sanctuary. Early in the Late Bronze Age, people used an open-air altar there for animal sacrifices. Between 1948 and 1951, John Papadimitriou excavated the site systematically. An altar is a raised table for offerings.
Which river and islands belong to the Argolic Gulf on a Mycenae and Epidaurus day trip?
The Inachos river runs into the Argolic Gulf close to Nea Kios. Psili, Plateia and Bourtzi are the main islands in the gulf. It is sometimes grouped with the Saronic Gulf under one name, the Argo-Saronic Gulf. An island is dry land enclosed by water on every side.