 As a result of this turmoil , specific regions in mainland Greece witnessed a dramatic population decrease , especially Boeotia , Argolis and Messenia . Mycenaean refugees migrated to Cyprus and the Levantine coast . Nevertheless , other regions on the edge of the Mycenaean world prospered , such as the Ionian islands , the northwestern Peloponnese , parts of Attica and a number of Aegean islands . The acropolis of Athens paradoxically appears to have avoided destruction . 
