Part IV. The ‘Gallery’ in the North Wall

Extract

Almost midway between the Postern Gate and the north-west angle of the Cyclopean Walls there is against the inside of the wall a chamber with a roof in the form of an inverted V, called by Steffen on his plan ‘Galerie’. Schliemann does not refer to it, and the ‘gallery’ he mentions is the drain through the wall east of the secret cistern. Tsountas and Manatt say: ‘What had long been taken for a gallery in the north wall proves to be nothing but a little chamber measuring less than 7 by 12 feet.’

In this connection it must be remembered that at Mycenae there is usually a narrow passage between the inside of the Cyclopean wall and the buildings within. The chamber mentioned has therefore probably been formed by covering this passage with an inverted V roof resting on one side against the Cyclopean Wall and on the other against the rock which rises rather steeply southwards at this point within the walls. This was probably done at a comparatively late stage in the history of the prehistoric citadel as indicated by Mr. Kenneth Rowe below.