A wildfire has broken out near the ruins of the bronze age stronghold of Mycenae in Greece, prompting the evacuation of visitors to the archaeological site.
According to local media, the fire started on Sunday near the tomb of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae who was killed on his return from the Trojan war.
The fire department said 27 firefighters operating in the area were being supported by nine fire engines, two planes and one helicopter. The wind was leading the fire away from the archaeological site, fire officials said.
The flames licked the ruins but the fire department insisted there was no danger to the site’s museum.
The fire went through “a section of the archaeological site and burnt some dry grass without menacing the museum,” the commander of the southern Peloponnese region’s fire brigade, Thanassis Koliviras told Athens News Agency.
Firefighting efforts were being supported by four planes and two helicopters.
In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centres of civilisation in the Mediterranean.
Greece grapples with wildfires every year during the dry summer season, with strong winds and temperatures frequently exceeding 30C (86F).
Two years ago, 102 people died in the coastal resort of Mati near Athens in Greece’s worst fire disaster.