From Athens: Small-Group Tour To Ancient Corinth

The ancient city-state of Corinth was located on the narrow strip of land connecting the Peloponnese to mainland Greece, known as the Isthmus of Corinth. In ancient times, the city grew wealthy due to this strategic location and its control of the transportation of ships from the Corinthian to the Saronic gulf and vice versa.

It became one of the most important trade powers in ancient Greece and had an extensive network of colonies. It was also the location of countless ancient myths, like the myth of Sisyphus and there were games like the Olympics held in the devotional area of Isthmia. Although the city was destroyed by earthquakes, you can still see the extensive ruins that testify to Corinth’s great prosperity, including the marble columns of the Temple of Apollo.

It is also one of the places that Saint Paul visited and wrote letters to. As we cross the Isthmus we will stop to see the great feat of engineering that finally opened up the route between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic gulf – the Corinth Canal. It was finished in 1893, even though the idea already existed at least as far back as 602 BC!