Tiryns

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Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Greece
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference	941
Region†	Europe and North America
Coordinates	37°35′58″N 22°47′59″E / 37.59944, 22.79972
Inscription history
Inscription	1999  (2309rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Tiryns (in ancient Greek Τίρυνς and in modern Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological 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 by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens and the University of Heidelberg.

Tiryns was recognized as one of the World Heritage Sites in 1999.

[edit] See also

• Mycenae
• National Archaeological Museum of Athens

[edit] External links

• Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Tiryns

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Greece Acropolis of Athens · Aigai (Vergina) · Old Town of Corfu  · Delos · Delphi · Epidaurus · Mycenae and Tiryns · Mystras · Olympia · Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse · Daphni Monastery · Hosios Loukas · Nea Moni of Chios · Meteora · Mount Athos · Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonica: (Hagios Demetrios, Arch and Tomb of Galerius, Hagia Sophia, Church of Panayia Halkeion, Church of Saint Nicolaos Orfanou, Church of Agioi Apostoloi, Church of Acheiropoiitos, Monastery of Latomou, Church of Agios Panteleimon) · Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos · Medieval city of Rhodes · Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

Coordinates: 37°35′58″N, 22°47′59″E