The Lion Gate is the main entrance to the citadel of Mycenae. It was built in the century BC. C. on the northwest side of the acropolis and owes its name to a relief sculpture of two lionesses in a heraldic pose found above the entrance.[1]​ The Lion Gate is the only piece of monumental sculpture surviving from Mycenae,[2]​ as well as the largest prehistoric sculpture in the Aegean.[3]​.

Most of the Cyclopean wall of Mycenae, including the Lion Gate, was built during the second enlargement of the citadel that took place at the end of the Helladic Period IIIA (17th century BC). C. within the city walls. This circle of tombs was discovered to the east of the Lions Gate, where a peribolus wall had also been built.[5] After the expansion, Mycenae could be entered through two entrances, a main one and a rear one,[6][7]​ although the distinctive feature was the remodeling of the main entrance to the citadel, known as the Lions Gate, on the northwest flank that was built around 1250 BC. C.[8]​.

The Lions Gate was reached via a ramp that was partly natural and partly man-made, located on an axis in a northwest-southeast direction. The east flank of the arrival road is flanked by the gentle slope of the primitive enclosure. This was beautified with a new façade. On the west side is a rectangular bastion 14.80 m long and 7.23 m wide, built in a pseudo-sillado style from a conglomerate of large rocks. The term "cyclopean" was therefore used to show that the ancient structures had been built by the race of legendary giants whose culture was thought to have preceded the classical Greeks, as told in their myths. Between the wall and the bastion, the ramp approaches a small open courtyard measuring 15 m x 7.23 m, possibly for the purpose of limiting the number of attackers above the gate. The bastion on the right side of the gate facilitated defensive actions against the attackers' right side, which was generally vulnerable since they carried their shields on their left arms. At the end of the road is the Lions Gate.[7]​.

The Lions Gate is a massive and imposing construction, measuring 3.1 m wide and 2.95 m high at its base. It narrows as it rises, measuring 2.78 m below the lintel. The opening was closed by a double door fixed to a vertical beam that acted as a pivot on which the door rotated.[6]​.