Corinth

Corinth and canal transit

The Victoria docked at the port of Piraeus very close to Athens. At one time, there was a wall that went around Piraeus harbor and Athens to prevent the sea route being cut off by the Persian enemies. The two places are close together. The port of Piraeus is usually busy with ship building, oil tanker and merchant fleet operations. Today the economy is having severe problems and it looked a little depressed around the docks and into the city of Athens. We saw the famous Parthenon in the distance as we passed on the coach.

Corinth is about 30 miles outside the capital Athens. It was spring and the flowers were in bloom making the hillsides look lovely and colorful. Greek poppies have a deep red color and the grass was very green. The fruit blossom was coming out on the apricots and almonds trees. Old Corinth lies buried beneath villages surrounded by orchards and olive groves. Serious excavations were carried out by American Universities from 1896 after, and in between, the two world wars. What has been revealed is very exciting.

Our first call was to the museum at Corinth. It was quite small but stocked with treasures. In one room there were three cases filled with beautiful miniature ornaments, cups, dishes and figurines made from Corinth white clay, and beautifully decorated. These had been stolen some years ago. In 2004 at an antiques auction in the US, they had been identified, sequestered and returned. The cases along the walls held bronze shields, helmets, spear heads, etc. The usual burial finds. There was a lot of sculpture and two very large statues that once stood at the temple to Apollo. In one of the rooms there was a very large funeral bed. It was made of stone but being carved, it looked for all the world like wood. One bright spark decided to touch it to see if the guide was telling the truth and got an instant reprimand from security. No, it was neither of us.

There were many Greek urns in various sizes in the distinctive brown clay and black decoration. A white stone slab that was obviously part of a larger piece, was on display.. Our guide explained that from the letters, carved in the slab, she could tell it was from a synagogue.

One funny instance in the museum was that another Cunard group was in a far room when we arrived, so our guide decided to start her talk from the first room. Half way through, the other group came in and both guides were vying to be heard. Our guide shouted something in Greek and a little tiff broke out. It was soon resolved and we continued on our tour. I must point out that our guide was very well educated in the Arts and worked very hard to make sure that we understood everything and what it was used for.

We moved out of the museum and into the area which was part of the ruins of Corinth.

Ancient Corinth has a long and varied history since its first inhabitants around 6500 BC and its emergence in the bronze age around 1100 BC. It has been invaded by many different cultures, had two major earthquakes, plagues and malaria. It is a wonder the place was not left completely, centuries ago. The area is so attractive with its backdrop of mountain and fertile soil that is always bounced back The Romans left the largest mark on its development. After totally destroying the city in 146 BC the treasures were taken to Rome. Julius Caesar used the area to settle his landless veterans in 44BC. Caesar, and later, Augustus rebuilt the city and a flood of freed Greek slaves, Jews and Eastern merchants settled here. St Paul came here in 50-52 AD. There was a stone lintel which identifies the synagogue by its inscription in the museum. We believe St Paul was a tent maker, or associated with Jewish tent makers, while he was in Corinth.

Unlike Rome, the area of the ruins are close together. We had time with the guide and then further time on our own to explore. The guide was once again very helpful with explanations and pointed out the stone entrance to a synagogue, where Paul had preached. Maybe the one where the broken slab in the museum was from. There were fountains/wells still working from the natural springs, houses, rows of shops, a forum, a temple to Apollo and several others. A very large stadium was marked out by its base stones. A large amphitheatre and an Odeon were alongside this area. The guide informed us that the city had covered twenty square miles. Most of it still covered up.

We left the site and went to lunch in a very splendid hotel overlooking the bay. The gardens were lovely, it was a perfect day, not too warm but blue skies and soft breeze. It made you want to sit down and just stay there. This would be a good hotel to stay for a vacation, to see the area more thoroughly. The lunch buffet was great with lots of choices but no Calamari or Dolmas!

Breaking away from our idyllic lunch place we drove to the Corinth Canal.

Corinth is an isthmus. It is a narrow 6 km wide strip separating two seas, the Saronic gulf on the West and the gulf of Corinth on the East. It unites the Peloponnese with Megarida and the rest of Greece. It would save ships 190 miles if it was possible to cut through this isthmus. Similar to the Panama. The Greeks, at the end of the seventh or the beginning of the sixth century BC, used a road way. Parts of which are still there. It was called the Diolkos. This meant hauling the ships out of the sea on wooden rollers, mounted on special wheeled platforms that ran on parallel grooves in the rock, before being launched at the other end.

Emperor Nero had the idea of building a canal but was called back to Rome to face an enquiry and eventually ended in his suicide.

The Corinth canal 1882-1893 is 6939 yards long with a bed width of 75.6 yards. The depth of the water is 26.3 meters, the same as the Suez Canal. The land begins at sea level and rises to at least 100 yards high. Three permanent bridges span the canal. The water was clear and blue and cliffs had shrubs growing out of the bank. The ships are pulled through by tugs.

At each end of the canal there is a road bridge. Rather than a swing, or lifting bridge, these actually come up out of the water and are re-submerged to let ships pass. We traversed the canal in both directions in a small leisure boat carrying approx. 100 cruise members, at leisurely pace. We were small enough to go through by ourselves without tug boat.

Having had a most pleasant and enjoyable day we returned to the ship.