Treasury of Atreus
Title
Treasury of Atreus
Date
1300-1250 BCE
Identifier
1866
Work Type
Single Built Works
Work Location
Greece (nation)
Mycenae (deserted settlement)
Style/Period
Mycenaean
Subject
tholos tombs
doorways
lintels
Description
View of the entrance to the Treasury of Atreus. ""This tholos tomb with stone dome, the largest known, was plundered in antiquity. An access passage (dromos), bordered by a peudo-isodome wall, leads to a faade 10.5 metres (34 feet) high. The door opens on to a rotunda, 14.6 metres (48 feet) in diameter and 13.5 metres (44 feet) high, with a masonry domed vault of 33 regular courses; some blocks bore a metal decoration, probably of 'patera' form. This door has a pyramidal shape which is also found in Egypt, and which reappears in classical architecture. The lintel is made up of two enormous blocks; the inner one weighs about 120 tons. The void triangle above it is characteristic of Mycenaean architecture: it serves to deflect the thrusts of the upper part of the building on to the supports of the door...No other Mycenaean building can boast such exact stone cutting, nor such refined proportions; not for another 1,000 years in Greece was such technical perfection put at the service of such a grandiose architectural design,"--John Julius Norwich. The World Atlas of Architecture. p135.
Measurements
14.60 m. in diameter, 13.40 m. high
Reproduction Type
jpeg
Copyright Statement
©2013 Lawrence Technological University. These images may be used for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes without the explicit permission of LTU.
ID Number
A1GRMYC2-551300BE2A5
- Date Added
- August 29, 2013
- Collection
- LTU Digital Images
- Item Type
- VRA Core
- Tags
- entrances, tholos
- Citation
- “Treasury of Atreus,” LTU Digital Images, accessed April 27, 2024, https://ltuimagecollection.omeka.net/items/show/11995.