The Ancient Greek Tholos In The Minoan Period

Tholos is ancient Greek word which means level grounded burial chamber (tomb). It’s a building which is circular based, with a cone shaped or with an arched roof, in front of it there is entrance passage and the plural of this ancient Greek word is tholoi. Tholos started to be built and used by the Minoan period which was located in Crete, and then used and developed by the Mycenaean period which located in Peloponnese, and both are in Greece.
In the Minoan period which was from 2,700 BC to 1,450 BC. They were a peaceful people so they were not concerned about building walls around their citadels and they were perfect in architecture and the structure system of building and this is reflected on their era and developed them to build and be more
And the Aigisthos and Clytemnestra are examples of the evolution of the domed tholos tombs. There are nine Tholos which is outside the walls of Mycenae. The tholos at Delphi is formed within, build at 380 BC. The Treasury of Atreus is the largest and the best preserved Tholos tomb till now it consists of circular chamber with a corbeled dome and it’s also called beehive tomb, the entrance of the Tholos is three lintel blocks with a long doorway with a width 1.95m, and depth is in the level of underground and the doorway end leads to the burial chamber which is built of stones rather being out of bedrock and the burials were usually laid out on the floor of the tomb chamber. And then it evolved like in the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia which is locates in the southeast of the sanctuary of Apollo. The hence in front of the temple was visible for from far distance, and the floors of the tholos are raised three feet above level ground and twenty Doric columns and the inner wall has diameter of 8.41. the circular shape of the tholos is not like the other circular shapes and now it has been restored and reconstructed. And there is the perfect tholos which consists of treasury of Atreus, tomb of Clytemnestra, tomb of the Genii. The Mycenaean period were full of wars so they were concerned with defensing their citadels and their whole kingdom, and this is why every palace or tholoi or sanctuary they build get destroyed by their enemies and this is also the reason there are not many Tholoi left from their kingdom. There is a gap between the last Mesara tholoi and the first Mycenaean tholoi. So Tholoi of Mesara type and its mostly high of the ground level. And in the minion period the Tholoi have been used by the entire people, but in the Mycenaean Period Tholoi have been used by the upper people like royal