Korinthos town and channel

Corinth Canal (Korinthos Channel) is one of Greece's famous attraction. If you are lucky, you can see when a ship slowly passes between the steep walls, seeking to get from Korinthiakos Gulf to the Aegean Sea. The idea of digging a canal through the narrow isthmus so that ships could get from Italy to the Aegean Sea without rounding the Peloponnese came from Emperor Nero (67 AC). Taking a silver shovel in his hands, he made a symbolic gesture by digging the first meter of earth. However, it was not completed.

Only in 1893, after 12 years of construction, the Corinth Canal, 23 meters wide, was finally dug, allowing ships to go directly to Piraeus. The canal is still in use today, though not as often as before, as large ships cannot pass through it. 

The Corinth Canal is an interesting destination for yachtsmen. You can make a voyage by yacht from Athens to the Ionian Sea or in the opposite direction. Such a trip will take about a week. The yacht for such a trip you can be rented in Athens, Corfu, Lefkas or in Preveza.

A few kilometers away from the canal is modern Corinth (Korinthos), which is not much of a tourist attraction. It is mainly an agricultural town, although it is interesting to know that it is the center of currant production in Greece. The word currant corresponds to the Greek word corinth. Noteworthy are the ruins of Ancient Corinth, situated on a hill of 565 meters high, 7 km. south-west of the city, between the main roads to Patras and to Nafplion.

Ancient Corinth presents itself as you walk through the well-preserved ruins of its center. From the Temple of Apollo (5th century BC) remains only the massive Doric columns. The building itself remained untouched during Roman times, when they rebuilt the city into the capital of a Roman province in 44 BC.

Once Corinth was home to 300,000 citizens and about half a million slaves. The buildings hidden among the stores, houses and administrative buildings are reminders of history. Herod Attica, a wealthy Athenian presented to the city Pirinus Fountain. The spring flowing beneath it still supplies water to modern Corinth.

The Archaeological Museum exhibits objects found here. The cheerful mosaics, dating mainly to the II century A.D., i.e. the Roman period, are a clear testimony to the prosperity of the city at that time. The vases, pottery and jewelry give an impression of the life of the people.

At a distance of 4 km from the city on a hill was the fortress of Akro Corinth, or Upper Corinth. When you get to know the location of the city, you will understand its great strategic importance. The city was conquered and repeatedly fortified by all conquerors, namely the Venetians, the Franks, and the Turks. Here you can see traces of chapels, mosques, houses, fortifications and still working Turkish fountain Hadji Mustafa.