After spending the night at the side of the road on the outskirts of Athens overlooking the lights of Piraeus, we drove towards Corinth past the massive oil refinery at Agioi Theodoroi and across the isthmus. There was a dramatic view from the high bridge crossing the isthmus canal which effectively cuts mainland Greece in two.
The archaeological site at Corinth is on a mountainside about 7 miles south of the city. The museum is small but interesting with many exhibits from the Greek period including sculptures of the battle between Greeks and Amazons and a sphinx.
Battle between Greeks and AmazonsSphinxHerakles and lionUrn with pic of minataur
The Romans arrived in 146 BC and razed Corinth to the ground although some of the more important buildings were retained and converted to Roman temples. The museum exhibits include a statue of Octavian (Emperor Augustus) and a mosaic from the floor of a Roman villa
OctavianMosaic of Pan
The most impressive features of the site are the Temple of Apollo with its magnificent columns, the Fountain of Glauke, the Bema and the Pereine Fountain.
Temple of Apollo
The Fountain of Glauke takes its name from Glauke, the daughter of King of Corinth and the second wife of the hero Jason Medea. In a fit of jealousy, Jason’s first wife presented Glauke with a cloak impregnated with poison and she threw herself into this fountain. The Bema is where Paul (famous for his epistles to the Corinthians and the Ephesians) was put on trial by the Romans in AD 52 after the Pharisees accused him of breaking Roman law. He got let off because the Romans thought Christianity was just a minor dispute among Jews. The Pereine still supplies the area with water.
The Bema
The Romans rebuilt the city and it is said to have become one of the world’s largest cities with a population of 750,000 and a reputation for licentious living although I didn’t see much of it. Its prosperity was based on its position on the Isthmus and subsequent control of trade between Asia and Europe. The city was destroyed by a series of earthquakes in the Byzantine period.
From Corinth we drove through the spectacular scenery of the central Peloponnese with hairpin bends and drops of over 1,000 feet. The roads were lined with broom bushes in full flower and blood-red poppies. We passed a huge herd of goats and got chased by a vicious dog which tried to jump into the van through the window. This ancient looking tortoise seemed dead but moved quite quickly when another car stopped to look at it.
