Ancient city of Corinth

Ancient Corinth as a settlement arose in the Bronze Age. It was a major city of the Mycenaean civilization. Its founders were the royal dynasty of the Kipselids. The Kipselid family includes the wisest, most cunning and most insidious Hellen who ever lived on earth. His name is Sisyphus. He tried unsuccessfully to cheat death. God’s punishment for Sisyphus is Sisyphus’ work. Ride to the top of the mountain a huge stone, which, having reached the goal, rolled back. Here, in Corinth, in the seventh century BC, ruled Periander, one of the seven sages of antiquity. His words are always relevant. In happiness be moderate, in misfortune be reasonable, pleasure is mortal, honor is immortal. The city is located on a narrow isthmus through which all trade routes to the Peloponnese peninsula passed. It had access to two seas, the Aegean and the Ionian, one of which washed it from the east and the other from the west. On both sides was on the port, and between them created a diolk, or fiber, which dragged ships and cargo from one port to the other. Thus, the journey of ships and the time of travel from the Aegean to the Ionian Sea and back was much shortened.

Ancient Corinth was famous for its fabrics, black-figure ceramics, wine, heteras. Sculptors and artists of antiquity worked here. The Corinthian trade routes reached India. The inhabitants of Corinth, rich in trade, led a wasteful lifestyle. Hence the saying that not everyone is allowed to visit Corinth. In this city lived the famous philosopher Diogenes, who on the question of Alexander the Great “what can I do for you” dared to answer the great commander “Do not obscure me with the sun.” During the excavations of the archaeological territory were found: the temple of the god Apollo of the archaic period, the source of Glavka (Glavka is the second wife of Jason), the market square with numerous porticos - shops, the source of the lower Pirinha, the Laheu road leading to the port of the Gulf of Corinth, and many other architectural buildings, the details of which you will learn from the story of the guide. Corinth is also known for the fact that the Apostle Paul preached the foundations of Christianity here, whom the locals honor as the patron of modern Corinth. The name of the city is repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament. Southwest of ancient Corinth on a secluded mountain is Acrocorinth, the very nature created for defensive structures. Inaccessible sheer slopes, a breathtaking view from the top, from where a narrow isthmus connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the mainland of the Balkan Peninsula is seen in the palm of your hand, an abandoned fortress. The sea is visible to the horizon from both the east and west sides. Entrance to the fortress on the west side. This is the most vulnerable place of the fortress, so the walls are reinforced by three traps. Only by overcoming these traps could one get into the citadel itself. On the way back, we stop at the Corinth Canal, built in the late 19th century and connecting the two seas. On the eastern side of the Saronic Gulf is the Aegean Sea, on the western side the Corinthian Gulf is the Ionian Sea. The canal is navigable and has a length of 6.343 m. After visiting the canal, we return to Athens.