Iklaina, a major center of the Mycenaean civilization located a few kilometers outside modern-day Pylos, is being transformed into an archaeological park thanks to the efforts of Michael Cosmopoulos, a Greek professor of archaeology at the University of Missouri-St Louis.
By TASOULA KARAISKAKI
“The monumental palace complex of Iklaina, majestic in its well-ordered simplicity, comes as something of a surprise in the hills northeast of the seaside town of Pylos in the southwestern Peloponnese. Gazing over the bay where the Greeks and their allies won a decisive victory for the country’s independence in the Battle of Navarino in 1827, this spacious, organized town, complete with palace, administrative buildings, streets and public squares, is almost the last thing you expect to see among the olive trees. Outside its imposing gates, we see modest homes and workshops that served the town, which was surrounded by cyclopean walls, protecting its luxurious palace and advanced infrastructure.”
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