The palace, built in the 14th century B.C. atop the hill of Epano Englianos between town hora and modern Pylos. The palace is believed to have been the home of king Nestor the old king who told stories and gave unsolicited advice while the younger warriors fought at Troy. The palace was rediscovered in 1939 by the American archaeologist Carl Blegen, who had the unbelievable good fortune of discovering the palace archives on his first day of work here. Blegen uncovered some 600 clay tablets written in a mysterious language initially called Linear B and later shown to be an early form of Greek. Unlike Mycenae and Tiryns, Pylos was not heavily fortified: You'll see a sentry box but no massive walls. The well-preserved royal apartments include a more-than-adequate bathroom with the tub still in place. Archaeologists have suggested that the small block beside the tub was a step, installed when the elderly King Nestor had trouble stepping into his bath. The palace, with its central courtyard, was originally two stories high and richly decorated with frescoes, some of which are on display at the small archaeological museum a mile away in the village of Hora.

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