The Big Ditch

March 5th was a pretty day and we decided to take a drive to the Peloponnese to check out the canal. We drove through Athens and along the Attiki coastline until we crossed the bridge at Korinthos. Then Don parked the car and we got out to walk along the bridge, back over the canal.

The canal at Corninth is pretty impressive. It is fairly narrow, about 24 meters (about 75 feet) wide, and has quite steep sides. The water is very blue and the slice through the isthmus is quite dramatic. It was interesting to walk out over the bridge and to look down that deep cavern into the azure water.
A little history of the canal:

A cut across the isthmus was considered as early as 600 bc by Periander, Tyrant of Corinth and one of the Seven Sages of Antiquity. He decided not to attempt it because the Delphic Oracle told him not to. Three hundred years later Demetrios Poliorketes thought he would give it a try, but the Egyptians talked him out of it. Nero wanted to cut across the isthmus and actually had slaves starting to dig, but then, of course, he was arrested for treason and put to death, so the project was abandoned. Other rulers considered the canal over the centuries, but nothing was don until the 1890s. With the success of the Suez Canal engineers were hired and the big trench was cut and the canal was completed in 1893.After our visit to the canal we continued into the Peloponnese to the ancient city of Corinth. Here the ruins are in quite good repair, with a long solid looking wall skirting the mountaintop. After a few wrong turns and getting stuck on the toll road with no exits for several miles, we finally found the route and drove up to the base of the clifftop settlement.
Archeological evidence shows that Ancient Corinth was occupied as early as 5000 bc. There are two springs on the mountain, and excellent visibility of both land and sea approaches, so it is a perfect place for a high fortress city. The city had three walls, one within the other, for protection. Today there are remains of a church from the 1800s, temples from ancient times, and several outlines of dwellings and defensive structures are on site. Don and I hiked up to the top and enjoyed a 360 degree view of the countryside. Cheryl decided not to do the steep climb and explored the church instead. 3pm it was time to head back down the hill and home through the Easter weekend traffic.

More pictures of Corinth