KORINTHOS

June 24 - Left Athens in the morning and motored along the coast to the bridge crossing the Corinth Canal, then visited ancient Corinth.

The Canal has a length of about 6.2 km (about 4 miles), and the width is about 25 meters (about 70 feet). Height from sea level reaches about 80 meters (about 240 feet) at places. Apart from the canal, the other important claim to fame is the church of the Apostle Paul also reminds us of the saint's Letters to the Corinthians and his preaching here.

History of Corinth

In the age of myth Corinthia was always being thrown into turmoil by tribes pouring into the Peloponnese from the Isthmus. With the setting of the Dorians (6th c. BC), Corinth's history began. It became a great naval power and perfected the trireme.

The Corinthians were the first to have the idea of cutting through the Isthmus but were unable to accomplish this feat. Instead they invented and built a paved slipway, called the diolkos, to haul their boats over. They were foremost in the arts, particularly ceramics. The 5th century was their most glorious period. But with the success of Athena as a powerful force, Corinth was eclipsed and fell into decline.

In 146 BC the Romans completely destroyed the city. In 67 BC Nero tried his hand at digging through the Isthmus and got as far as a big trench, but works were abandoned with his death, and not until 1891-1893 did the canal finally become a reality. Invasions and looting by barbarians threw Corinth into a new decline and the city was not heard from again until the early Byzantine era. In 1521 a strong earthquake razed the city which rose again in about the 11th century.

In 1212 the Franks took over, holding on until 1395 when the Byzantines gained the advantage, only to sell the city to the Knights of Rhodes five years later. Corinth, with the most of the rest of the Peloponnese, fell to the Turks in 1458, became the property of the Knights of Malta for a time (1612), passed to the Venetians in 1687 and was recaptured by the Turks in 1715. They were ousted in 1822.