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. [Illustration: PLATE IV. THE TREASURY OF ATREUS. _To face page 43_] [Sidenote: THE TREASURY OF ATREUS.] The "Treasury of Atreus," which is about 400 yards further south, was entirely subterranean, being constructed under the eastern slope of the ridge which traverses the city, and towards the ravine of the same torrent which passes the south side of the cliff of the citadel. On the slope below the Treasury is a large platform of Cyclopean masonry, from which the _dromos_, or approach--20 ft. 7 in. broad, and lined with walls of wrought stones--leads to the doorway of the building, which is 8 ft. 6 in. wide at the top and 9 ft. 2 in. at the bottom. Its height is 18 feet; it is roofed by two enormous slabs, beautifully cut and polished, of which the inner one measures 3 ft. 9 in. in thickness, and 27½ feet in length on its lower and 29 feet on its upper surface; its breadth is 17 feet, and it is computed that it weighs approximately 300,000 English pounds.[135] The great chamber, which resembles a dome or a vast beehive, is 50 feet high and 50 feet in diameter. It is built of well-wrought blocks of hard breccia, placed in regular layers, and joined with the greatest precision without any binding material. The stones, which on the inside are smooth and well-fitted, are on the outside very irregular, and, contrary to the general belief, they are not immediately covered with earth, but with enormous masses of stone, which, by their ponderous weight, keep all the stones of the circular layers of masonry in their position. Thus the principle of this construction is, as Colonel Leake justly remarks, that of an arch-shaped wall resisting a great superincumbent weight, and deriving its strength and coherence from the weight itself. The same idea, which suggested the circular shape to the Cyclopean architect, induced him also to curve the sides vertically, as they derived from that form an additional power of resistance to the lateral pressure.