But not all the Cyclopean walls in the suburb are house-walls, for many of them are only intended for the support of the terraces.
TREASURIES IN THE SUBURB.
Much more interesting than all the other buildings in the suburb are the "Treasuries," which, owing to their great resemblance to ovens, are now called φοῦρνοι by the country people. One of them is just without the line of the town wall, on the slope of the hill near the Gate of the Lions. The doorway is visible, but it is nearly buried; the entrance is roofed with three large thick slabs; and the length of the passage is 18 feet, its width 7 ft. 9 in. Only a small part of the lower circular wall of the dome-shaped building can now be seen, the upper part having fallen in, probably ages ago.[134]
Descending the slope in a south-westerly direction, we come to a smaller Treasury, the entrance passage of which is 15½ feet long, and likewise roofed with three large slabs. The width of the door is 7½ feet; part of the lower circular wall of the dome-like building is here also above ground, and shows at the height of the top of the entrance a diameter of 25 feet; so that the diameter on the ground floor may be 32 feet. Turning thence to the south, and ascending the slope, we come, near the crest of the ridge, to a third Treasury, of which only the entrance passage remains. This is 20 feet long, and only 5 ft. 3 in. broad; and is roofed by five large slabs.
The whole site of the vast suburb being on slopes, and having been but scantily inhabited, on account of its vast extent, the accumulation of débris is everywhere small, and seldom exceeds a foot and a half in depth. A much greater accumulation is found only on the terraces immediately to the west and north-west of the Lions' Gate.
Though the site of the enclosed city is also on slopes, yet, as it is but small and must at all times have been more densely inhabited, the accumulation of débris is in general more considerable there, and particularly on the western and south-western side of the Acropolis. But at points more distant from the Acropolis, and particularly on the steeper slopes whence the remains of houses have been washed away by the rains, the accumulation does not exceed the quantity general in the suburb. It deserves particular attention that, except close to the western circuit-wall of the citadel, the site of the enclosed city shows far less of Cyclopean substructions or remnants of house-walls than the suburb; but immediately beyond the Cyclopean bridge on the opposite bank of the ravine are the ruins of two vast buildings which may have been forts and may have served for the defence of the bridge. I may here mention that traces of the ancient Cyclopean highway from Mycenæ to Tiryns are still visible for some distance beyond the bridge.
On the site of the enclosed city are the two largest Treasuries. One of these is the famous Treasury which tradition attributes to Atreus. The other, which is close to the Lions' Gate, appears to have been entirely under ground, and was therefore unknown in historical times; the upper part of its dome has fallen in, but I have not been able to ascertain whether, as some of the inhabitants of the Argolid affirm, this has occurred accidentally, or whether, as others maintain, it is the sacrilegious work of Veli Pasha, the son of the notorious Ali Pasha, who towards the end of 1820 attempted to force an entrance this way, but was prevented by the outbreak of the Greek revolution from proceeding much further.
PLATE IV.