Menalaion

The Menalaion or Sanctuary of  Menelaos and Helene was difficult to process as there were two very different but still very substantial structures on the top of a hill.

The first seemed to be a large house with several rooms built somewhere around 13c B.C.

We originally thought these must be cisterns and a water channel since some of the rooms seemed to be entirely closed (see Oracular Spring at Ptoon), but we discovered that there different layers of Mycenaean houses from previous constructions on and above the existing as each were naturally destroyed (earthquake, fire), and which would account for the confusing array of walls and doorways.

(See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/students/modules/greekreligion/database/clunbf/ formore information.)

Anyway, suffice to say, the houses are extensive (see Randall above for scale) and we could interact with the ruins, as much as the weeds would permit.

The second was a temple built around 8c. B.C., also rebuilt multiple times in later centuries which accounts for its confusing architecture.  However, the most important thing we noted about this ruin is that it appears to be a pyramid (stepped, not sloped), perhaps owing to the fact that each time it was rebuilt, the previous foundation was retained as much as possible.  I will also note that while this site is called the Menalaion, both Menelaos and Helen were worshipped here, which leads me to wonder why it wasn't also called the Heleneion...

Still, whether we understand the full import of this ruin, it was amazing to experience the massive structure.

As a side note, this trip, I have been crazy about stairs and doorways, so I will add these two photos for amusement:

 Stairs in the Mycenaean house.

Two doorways at the side of the temple!