Mura

Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders roughly fitted together with minimal clearance between adjacent stones and with clay mortar or none. The boulders typically seem unworked, though some may be roughly hammer-dressed, and the gaps between them are filled with smaller chunks of limestone. The most famous examples are the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns, and the style is characteristic of Mycenaean fortifications; very large boulders are typical of the walls at Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Krisa in Phocis and the Acropolis of Athens. Walls are usually founded in extremely shallow beddings carved out of the bedrock. Similar stonework is found in other cultures, and the term has come to describe stonework of this sort. The regional background, “Cyclopean masonry”, is given below.

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