Ancient Corinth & Canal Crossing

One of the most important cities of ancient Greece, Corinth occupied a strategic spot on the isthmus that connected the Peloponnese to mainland Greece and was roughly midway between the rival city-states of Athens and Sparta. When a thriving Greek city, it was destroyed by the Romans in 144 BC, then rebuilt in 44 BC as a provincial capital of the empire. Corinth again prospered and later survived numerous invasions, yet was ultimately abandoned following devastating earthquakes for modern Corinth. The ancient site is expansive. Your tour highlights the city’s history and heritage, on such features as the original columns of Temple of Apollo, the remains of the colonnaded market square, the celebrated Fountain of Priene, and the Lechaion Road, a main thoroughfare that led to the sea. In the first century AD, the Apostle Paul preached here and wrote his famous letters, all part of his missionary efforts to convert the Corinthians to the new Christian religion. The platform where Paul was tried by the Roman governor is still visible. You’ll also have the opportunity to spend time at the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Corinth, where artifacts from excavations here and at other nearby ruins are exhibited. It’s then a 15-minute drive to the Corinth Canal, a 76-foot-wide and 26-foot-deep waterway that connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas. A project of Herculean proportions, it had been dreamed of in antiquity but could only be realized in the late 19th century. Board a boat and marvel at the sheer walls that rise above the water level on the 45-minute trip.