The Lion Gate, which was the main entrance to the Acropolis, takes its name from the two wild animals sculpted on the huge monolithic pediment. Of Asiatic inspiration, they stood watch over the entrance to the upper town and symbolised Mycenaean power. The huge size of the gate's monolithic blocks is striking; the lintel in particular is breathtakingly powerful - unusual for a civilisation that set little store by monumental sculpture - and it is also the sole decorative element.

This royal cemetery dating from the 17C BC was excavated in 1951. Unfortunately the stone surround composed of huge blocks of limestone is in poor condition. It enclosed 24 graves, of which 14 were communal shaft graves; excavations have revealed important archeological material now on display in the Athens Museum, including a remarkable rock crystal vase in the form of a duck.

This sanctuary, where the cult of the ''great goddesses'' Demeter and Persephone was celebrated, was one of the great shrines of Antiquity. The ruins (discovered in 1815), partly from the Roman era, still exude a magical aura: the Great Forecourt (2C AD); the Great Propylaia (2C AD), the monumental entrance to the sanctuary; the Lesser Propylaia (1C BC); and the Telesterion, in the heart of the sanctuary, a majestic building with traces from every era - from the Mycenaean to the Roman.

Dating from the 13C BC, the Treasury of Atreus is the largest and the most beautiful of the nine communal beehive tombs which have been discovered to the west and southwest of the Acropolis of Mycenae. It was partially hewn out of the hillside and originally masked under a covering of earth; it is approached on a path 36m long and 6m wide. The majestic circular funerary chamber has skilful rows of stonework forming a conical vault.