June 2025
This summer, the Getty Villa Museum unveils “The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece”, the first major North American exhibition devoted to the Mycenaeans—one of the most influential civilizations of the Late Bronze Age. On view from June 27, 2025, through January 12, 2026, the show presents over 230 stunning artifacts from Messenia, the heartland of ancient Pylos.
Divided into four immersive sections, the exhibition invites visitors into a world of palaces, tombs, warriors, and myth. It begins with the Palace of Nestor, the best-preserved Mycenaean palace discovered in mainland Greece. Excavated in 1939, the site revealed richly inscribed Linear B tablets, offering rare insight into Mycenaean administration and language.
The second section centers on the extraordinary discovery of the Griffin Warrior Tomb, unearthed in 2015 near the palace. The shaft grave contained an elite warrior’s remains and a trove of exquisite objects—including the Pylos Combat Agate, a masterpiece of miniature Minoan carving that stunned archaeologists with its detail and artistry.
Next, the exhibition explores the Tholos Tombs of Pylos, grand beehive-shaped structures that housed generations of elite families. Their contents, including Egyptian and Mesopotamian motifs, underscore the region’s far-reaching trade networks.
Finally, the exhibition surveys Pylos’s wider territory, showcasing luxury grave goods from its outer provinces. A silver-inlaid dagger, a boar’s-tusk helmet like those described by Homer, and a golden crown from Routsi are among the highlights.
Organized in collaboration with Greek institutions, this exhibition not only celebrates Mycenaean achievements but also tells the story of the archaeologists who uncovered them. It’s a rare chance to experience the art, architecture, and power of Greece’s first great civilization—right in the heart of California.
Following its presentation at the Getty Villa Museum, the exhibition will be on display at the Hellenic National Archaeological Museum in Athens from March 1 to June 30, 2026.
