A magnificent gall, composed of irregular polygons, closely united and .a•efully smoothed, supports the terrace on which the gate of the lions is situated.
The area of the acropolis is a long irregular triangle, standing nearly east and west. on the northern side, the declivity al•o is very steep, and there is a gate which con sists of two stones. coveted by a third. The opening is :) feet tl inches wide at bottom, and 5 feet •1 inches at top. Above the architrave is a large stone approaching the form of a triangle, with which the mitt is about 1 t feet high, The gates Mbled, and were secured by bars. The access to this entrance was by an artificial terrace, which was com pletely commanded by the wall. A curtain nearly in a right line extends from this gate to that of the lions; and it is very probable that certain holes in the earth above this wall, which are shown by the natives as cisterns, are actually connected %%itli galleries similar to those of Tirr nthus. After entering the gate, there was a road, commanded by a wall, which traversed the hill almost to the opposite side be fore it turned to the sioninit; so that the acropolis was defended by at least a triple enclosure: on the northern side is a small gate, ith its lintel, entire. The structure is so disposed, that those who entered it mamld have their left arm, which was guarded by the shield, On the side of the which is a deviation from the coninum rule followed in con structing ancient Greek fortresses of all ages. The grooves for the bolts in the jambs of the door are of large dimensions. A deep rocky glen separates the acropolis from the neigh bouring hill : there was anciently a bridge over the ravine: one of the side-walls still remains, consisting in well jointed polygons.
Of the treasury at Atreus, near Myeenre, which is a very remarkable building, Mr. Hughes gives us the following description, which we would beg the reader to compare with the account of a structure at New Grange, near Drogheda, Ireland, given under CELTIC ARCHITECTURE. It is the opinion of many arelueologists that the Titan Ccltie were of the same race as the Cyclops, who built the acropolis of "Descending down a slope flanked by enormous walls, we arrived at a plain entrance, noble in its simplicity and mag nitude; it is 10 feet in breadth by 18 in depth—one of the stones composing the architrave or lintel being a single block, 27 feet lung, 16 broad, and 4 deep. Immediately over
it is a triangular aperture, whien probably contained sculp ture appertaining to Egyptian rites ; the pyramidal form of the triangle being considered an emblem of the fiery element. The chief apartment of this treasury is a dome, very similar in shape to an English bee-hive, constructed, like the gal leries of Tiryns, with large blocks in horizontal courses, each course projecting over the one immediately below it, whilst the interior surfitee is cut into form by the chisel. The diameter of its area is 47 feet ; and at the end of the first quadrant, to the right of the entrance, is a passage leading into an inner about 27 feet by 20 in dimensions, the walls of which are not lined with any kind of masonry. This vault, near 50 feet high, is finished at the top by a single stone, like the treasury of i\linvas, at Orehomenos; however, it is not a key-stone, for the principle of the arch is unapplied to this peculiar mode of construction. The inner surfiices of the blocks are pierced with holes, from whence many bronze nails have been extracted, which are supposed, not without probability, to have fastened plates of that metal over the interior surface of the edifice, as at the Pantheon, Lome." The approach to the treasury is 20 feet in width. The blocks of stone composing the larger chamber are laid in regular courses, of which there are thirty-Mur visible, each course being about two feet in thickness. The st nes, how ever, are not, all of equal dimensions, hut are united with the greatest precision, and ithout the aid of cement ; they are composed of the hard and beautiful breccia of which the neighbouring rucks almost entirely eonsist. The entrance to the inner chamber is ftet high, • feet 7 inches wide at the Raise, and 4 feet 3 Indies at top: it has also a triangular cavity above, similar to that over the larger chamber. These tri spaces hoUght by some to be a rude method of relieving the centre of the lintel stone, and throw the weight 111M11 its ends; but others suppose them to have some mystical allusion, which is not improbable.
Various other examples besides those just described still remain in various parts of Greece. in Bmotia, Attica, Argolis, and Phock : also at dulls and Delphi ; but the above will probably give a sufficiently explicit idea of their general character.