Tiryns

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and **Tiryns**^a
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Greece
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Identification	#941
Region^b	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1999 23rd Session
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO

Plan of Tiryns excavations

Tiryns (in ancient Greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archeological site in the Greek nomos of Argolis in the Peloponnese peninsula, some kilometres north of Nauplion.

Tiryns was a hill fort with occupation ranging back seven thousand years, from the beginning of the Bronze Age. It reached its height between 1400 and 1200 BC. Its most notable features were its palace, its cyclopean tunnels and especially its walls, which gave the city its Homeric epithet of "mighty walled Tiryns". In ancient times, the city was linked to the myths surrounding Heracles, with some sources citing it as his birthplace[1].

The famous megaron of the palace of Tiryns has a large reception hall, the main room of which had a throne placed against the right wall and a central hearth bordered by four Minoan-style wooden columns that served as supports for the roof. Two of the three walls of the megaron were incorporated into an archaic temple of Hera.

The site went into decline at the end of the Mycenaean period, and was completely deserted by the time Pausanias visited in the 2nd century AD. This site was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1884-1885, and is the subject of ongoing excavations.

Tiryns was recognized as one of the World Heritage Sites in 1999. Visitors to the site might like to know that the top of the hill has been liberally concreted, giving it a feel of part hill fort and part helicopter landing site.