Day 15 - June 26 - Corinth

Day 15 – Sat June 27^th - Corinth

It was nice to be back at the Parthenon Hotel, in the shadow of the great acropolis of Athens. The breakfast is a feast and was well worth anticipating. I was up extra early today to use the Hotel computer to load the blog with photos – my tiny laptop has been giving me no end of frustration – it may be time to trade it in!

Breakfast was at 7am, and the bus was waiting for us at 8am for our departure to the ancient city of Corinth. 

The modern city of Corinth lies about 100k due west of Athens, on the narrow ithsmus that connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the Greek mainland. The ruins of the ancient city lie just west of the modern city. On the way we stopped to admire the Corinth Canal, a massive piece of engineering that has dug a very deep, narrow canal that now connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It is some 7 kms long at least, and several hundred feet deep with sheer sandstone walls, just wide enough (21 metres) at the water level for a reasonable sized boat to scrape through with little clearance on both sides. The idea to dig the canal was first mooted in 600BC but it was beyond the engineering capability of the times. Various Roman rulers since have tried, but belief in the seas higher on one side stopped any progress until Roman Emperor Nero some 2000 years ago, but it took more modern engineering in the 19^th century to finally pull it off. 

We then proceeded further west along the ithsmus, through modern Corinth to the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth, which was first inhabited as far back as 5,000BC, and famous for its pottery, and its wealth as a result of having the benefit of a double port, where trading ships came from all over the known world. The trading in Corinthian pottery and also bronze works went as far Spain, Egypt and the Black Sea. It was a strong city-state but not quite the equal of Athens or Sparta (on the Peloponnese Peninsula).

Corinth was occupied by the Macedonians in 338BC (Philip II, father of Alexander the Great) and withstood the advances of the Roman Empire for some time until the Roma General Mummius laid waste to the city in 146BC, killed the male population and sold the women and children into slavery. Julius Caesar re-colonised Corinth with ex-slaves from Rome in 46BC and made it the capital of Achaia. Many Italian business people flocked there, and Corinth flourished and enjoyed freedom and prosperity.

The dominant building was the Temple of Apollo (550BC) of which several prominently tall columns dominate the site). We walked through the remains of the once proud city, its central forum, the promenade with its ‘agora’ (shopping centre much like the souks of modern middle eastern cities). There were a dozen or so shrines to pagan gods (Poseidon, Athena etc) and as many temples including Asclepius the god of healing and his daughter Hygieia.

There was once a large theatre which seated 15,000 people, but no remains visible today, and a population that possibly exceeded 400,000 for part of the Roman period. The city attracted vast numbers of sailors due to the busy shipping trade, which supplied demand for the temple of Aphrodite and its many temple prostitutes, a thriving commercial activity in the days when St Paul walked into this once great city. The city had a reputation for luxury, pleasure and most of all immorality which is reflected in the letters of St Paul to ‘the Corinthians’ in the New Testament’.

 St Paul came to the city on numerous occasions, and certainly on his 2^nd Missionary journey, staying some 18 months and paying his way using his trade as a tent maker. He would most likely have had a small workshop in the ‘agora’ where we stood, making and supplying tents for the many people flooding into the city.

At the centre of the two large main streets was the ‘Bema’, the raised dais of solid stone and marble which was essentially the speaker’s platform from where announcements and pronouncements were made, and from where the Roma Proconsul could address the crowds. It was to here that St Paul was brought before Gallio, the Roman Proconsul in 51/52AD for allegedly disturbing the peace.

Looming over the ancient city is the remains of the citadel and fortress of ‘acrocorinth’, the magnificent acropolis perched high on the mountain that towers above the ancient city. We didn’t climb the mountain, but the garrison fortress was very visible and from our perspective far below, it looked very much intact, the walls at least.

Before leaving Corinth, we walked to the centuries old church of St Mary, which was beautiful inside, with magnificent views across the ancient city and also to the acrocorinth perched high on the mountain behind. It was quite a lovely experience.

With the day now disappearing, we enjoyed a sumptuous lunch on the outside deck of a café that overlooked yet another beautiful canal. We enjoyed the luxurious water craft that passed by, mesmerized by the bridge that dropped deep into the waters to allow the boats passage.

In the late warm afternoon we made our way back to the Hotel, always a welcome experience after a long and tiring day. At 6:30pm we gathered together for a final session for reflection. Our ‘Footsteps of St Paul’ had now come to a conclusion. After a final dinner together, we said our goodbyes. By dawn, several couples would already have departed – some going to London for the Salvation Army Congress celebrating 150 years of The Salvation Army. Others were going on yet another bus tour, while a few were heading home to Australia.

As for this couple, we will have a free day in Athens before flying to Istanbul to begin another journey of our own. From our 3^rd story room at the Parthenon Hotel, in the shadow of the great Athenian Acropolis, we send our love.

Until tomorrow….

KRA