Tiryns

Tiryns, ancient city of Greece, on the Peloponnese Peninsula, immediately south-east of Argos, near the head of the Argolic Gulf. According to legend, it was founded by the mythological character Proteus, the brother of King Acrisius of Argos. Proteus was succeeded on the throne of Tiryns by Perseus, grandson of Acrisius. A later mythological king of Tiryns was Eurystheus, to whom the hero Hercules was in servitude and for whom he performed his 12 labours; thus Hercules was sometimes called Tirynthius. In the historical period, Tiryns was often subject to Argos, although during the Persian Wars it was independent and in 479 bc sent troops to fight the Persians at Plataea. Tiryns was taken by the Argives probably about 468 bc, after which it remained uninhabited and only the massive walls of its citadel were left standing, the wonder and admiration of later ages. These walls, about 7.5 m (25 ft) thick and constructed of huge stones, were believed by the ancient Greeks to be the work of the Cyclops, giants in Greek Mythology.

The pre-eminence of Tiryns dates from the prehistoric period. It was inhabited from the 3rd millennium bc and seems to have reached its greatest splendour in the late Mycenaean period (c. 1400-1200 bc). The palace on the summit of the citadel was excavated (1884-1885) by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and until the discovery of the Palace of Minos at Knossos, in Crete, in the early 20th century, it was the most complete known example of a royal residence from the prehistoric period of Aegean civilization. It includes entrance gates, paved courtyards, large halls, vestibules, smaller rooms, and a bath; it was apparently built in stages, the complex of buildings representing both earlier and later palaces. The Tiryns archaeological site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1999.