Mycenae Megaron (undated diagram)
Ancient Greek Mythology, Religion, Art
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Focal point of the city of Mycenae is the palace or megaron (great room). Constructed at the summit of the Mycenae acropolis, it consists of (going left to right in the above drawing): a front porch with two columns, an ante-chamber just inside, and then are large main room with four columns around a central fire pit (the domos, or throne room).
Scholars believe that the Mycenae palace probably served religious as well as political functions. The structure actually foreshadows the eventual layout of Greek temples: a columned entrance, a pronaos, and a central naos or cella. It is hypothesized that the megaron was, in fact, the central site of religious worship.
All of this is characteristic of the megaron style found at other cites around the Aegean. Today only the floors remain. Scorch marks on the stone point to a fire around 1200 BCE.
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