Fodor's Expert Review Treasury of Atreus

On the hill of Panagitsa, on the left along the road that runs to the citadel, lies this most imposing example of Mycenaean architecture. The construction of this huge tholos (or beehive tomb) took place around 1250 BC, contemporary with that of the Lion Gate, during the last century of Mycenaean prominence. Like other tholos tombs, it consists of a passageway cut into the hillside that was built of huge squared stones. The passage leads into a vast domed chamber. The facade of the entrance had applied decoration, but only small fragments have been preserved, and traces of bronze nails suggest that similar decoration once existed inside. The tomb was found empty, already robbed in antiquity, but it must at one time have contained rich and valuable grave goods. Pausanias wrote that the ancients considered this to be the Tomb of Agamemnon, and the treasury is still often referred to as such.