The whole length of the citadel is about 660 feet, and the breadth about 180 feet ; and the walls are constructed upon a straight line, without any reference to the sinuosities of the rock.
The Propylaea, or massive portal of the Acropolis of Alyeelec, is one of the most interesting antiquities which time has spared. It is of Cyclopean architecture, constructed with blocks of surprising magnitude, the architrave consisting of a single stone, 15 I'et in length, by 41 in height : two parallel walls, composed of huge masses, piled up in an uncouth manner, which nothing but their size and weight would ever have kept firm, project from the gateway, and form an oblong court about 50 feet deep." Over the architrave of this portal is one of the most ancient pieces of sculpture existing perhaps in the World ; it is cut in high relief upon a triangu lar stone, the base of which is 11 feet, and the perpendicular height 10, being very similar in appearance to an armorial shield. The subject is an in' erted column resting upon a portion of its entablature, between two lions rampant for supporters; each animal stands on a columnar plinth, at equal distances from the pillar, whose inverted pedestal is decorated with a kind of beaded string, consisting of four spherical balls ; there is also seen on the frieze of the entablature immediately under the capital of the column, an elliptical excavation, and half the same device appears under each of the plinths on which the lions stand." To the south of the gate of the lions, the wall of the capital is much ruined. In one part something like a tower is visible, which being perpendicular, while the curtain inclines a little inward from its base, there remained a pro jection at the top sufficient fur an archer to defend the wall below. The blocks of the superstructure are in general of large dimensions, while those of the foundation are consider ably smaller.
With the exception of the gates, the whole circuit of the citadel is constructed of rough masses of rock, very accu rately adjusted and fitted to each other, though the smaller stones which filled up the interstices have generally dis appeared : this style of building has commonly been called Cyclopean. It certainly appears that the walls of the most ancient cities of the Peloponnesus, whether attributed to the Cyclops or not, were of this construction. Tiryns and Mvecnat differ from other aeropoles in their galleries and gates, so that perhaps the ponderous method ehich so nearly resembles the style used by the Egyptians, of which the gate of the lions is the best specimen in Europe, is the real Cv•ropean ; while the remainder of the circuit is the cork of the natives. These fortifications were reputed to be
impregnable, and Were so in ancient times. At the siege of Maeda' by the A rgi v es, these warriors found themselves unable to destroy the pity, but they curved the inhabitants to surrender through thinine. Iyeente was demolished by the Argives at the time of the destruction of Tiryns; the build ings were overthrown, and the city Mr nearly 3,000 years has been desolate.
The southern ramparts of the citadel and all the other walls fidlow the natural irregularity of the precipice on which they are founded. At its eastern point it is attached by a narrow isthmus to the mountain. It is a long, irregular triangle, staioling nearly east and west ; the walls are mostly constructed I if the second style of well-jointed polygons, the rough construction is occasionally seen.
So small a Mrtress seems unworthy of the Tirynthian hero; but though the space it occupies is so circumscribed, the walls are truly herculean ; their general thickness is 21 fee:, in some plac.•s they are 25; their present height, in the must perfect part, is •13 feet. In s(noe places there are square projections from the walls, in Mrto of towers; hut the projection is very slight : the most perfect of these is at the south-east angle, its breadth is 33 feet, and its height 43 feet.
'1'he construction of the lateral walls is nearly regular, differing from the walls which constitute the peribolus, or boundary, of the acropolis, which are irregular polygons; they are of the hard breccia stone found on the spot, but the block ornamented with the lions resembles in its appearance the green basalt of Egypt. The back (n. inner 'tart of the gate of the lions is highly interesting, as it exhibits two styles of construction totally differing from each other ; that side which is towards the plain of Argos is of the rough masonry, NN Idle the other side is regularly con structed like the front of the gate and two lateral walls %%hieh diverge from it. It would appear that the gate had been made some time after the original Cyclopean stnietnre. Without presuming to decide whether the regular as well as the irregular or polygonal construction were not stonctimes employed at the same are reasons for believing, that while the walls of acropoles, or citadels, and nth r strong places, were composed of Cyclopean masonry, the temples. sepulchres, and sacred edifices were formed of a more regular construction ; as the tin•mer were principally adapted to resist the impulse of warlike engines, while the sanctuaries of the gods, and the chambers of the dead, were regarded with reverential awe even by enemies.