GREECE PELOPONNESE ARGOLIS TIRYNS ACROPOLIS

Above and below: The exit of the once secret vaulted passage seen from outside the acropolis, in Mycenaean times hidden behind dense vegetation.

Above left: The Southwest Gate giving access to the Lower Citadel. - Above right and below: Inside views of the Lower Citadel.

The Lower Citadel included a quarter with houses, workshops and a shrine, and had two independent gates. It was a place of refuge for cattle and ordinary people and a place to store water and food - a major concern of Helladic kings at war. The mighty walls seem invincible defenses, but they were as much a prison as protection, and it seems likely for an enemy trying to starve the inhibitants into submission. Therefore, secret passages to underground water supply reservoirs were built outside the acropolis.