Sunday, June 26, 2011

Gla

 
Gla is a Mycenaean citadel in Boeotia. It's about twenty miles or so from Thebes and was where the villagers used to go when they were under attack. The citadel doesn't have a palace or any major buildings since it was intended as a temporary refuge. They think. This entire area used to be swamp which made it harder for any armies to campaign there. This is a pretty cool site since nobody knows it exists. if you're looking fro aa genuinely untouched site this is the one.

I found this site on GoogleEarth when trying to ID Mycenaean sites. As you can tell from the GoogleMap link below Gla has a pretty funny shape. It looks like a ping pong paddle. The entire site is built on a natural outcrop in the middle of a flat plain. The cyclopean walls are really an afterthought. This is a naturally defensible site.

Finding the site is hard since there are almost no signs. It's located in the middle of a patch of farmland. It's quite easy to recognize once you spot it. It's only a couple of miles from the exit and it's the only high patch of ground in the middle of a plain.

Apparently the Greeks tried to set this place up as a tourist site at some point. This abandoned tourist booth is all that's left of their efforts. I'm not surprised that it failed. It was a silly idea to begin with. Gla is located in the middle of nowhere and has no famous name to help sell it.

Since the booth is closed you don't have to follow a set path up. There are several entrances around the site.

The cyclopean walls are the most impressive part about the site. They're nearly complete and they look very impressive from below.


Part of the drainage system on the acropolis.






The main entrance. These gates are pretty cool. You can see how easy it would be to defend these.

Panoramic View

Gla in Greece


View Larger Map
38°29'0.37"N, 23°10'53.43"E

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