Corinth, Greece Tourism

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southwest in a beautiful setting at the foot of the hill of Acrocorinth (Akrokorinthos). There are extensive remains, mostly dating from the Roman period, dominated by the imposing ruins of the Archaic temple of Apollo.

Corinth owed its great importance in ancient times to its situation, with the hill of Acrocorinth providing a strong acropolis. It was said that Acrocorinth and Ithome were the two horns of the Greek bull, and that whoever held them possessed the Peloponnese. Corinth controlled the 6km/4mi wide Isthmus, the only land route into the Peloponnese, and with its two harbors, Lechaion in the Gulf of Corinth and Kenchreai in the Saronic Gulf, also controlled the movement of goods between the two gulfs. The area of Corinth (the name of which is pre-Greek) was already occupied in Neolithic times. In historical times the city attributed its foundation to Korinthos, son of Marathon, and to Sisyphos. Around 1000 BC. Doric settlers established themselves here beside a Phoenician trading post. Under the Bacchiad dynasty (from 747 BC.) the city enjoyed a period of prosperity, founding colonies on Corfu and at Syracuse. In 657 BC. (?) the Bacchiads were succeeded by Kypselos, who ruled for 30 years as a tyrant and was succeeded by his more notable son Periandros, as absolute ruler for 40 years, from about 628 BC. He ranked as one of the Seven Sages, and during his reign the Archaic culture of Corinth reached its apogee, the city's political and economic power being matched by its cultural achievement. Here the Doric temple gained its classical form, and the typical "Corinthian roof" of flat tiles was developed. Corinthian bronzes and pottery were disseminated throughout the Greek world; and during this period, according to Vitruvius, the Corinthian capital was invented by Kallimachos. In 196 BC. Corinth became the headquarters of the Achaean League. In 146 it was plundered and destroyed by a Roman general, Mummius, and remained in a state of ruin until it was rebuilt by Caesar in 44 BC. In AD. 51-52 the Apostle Paul lived and taught in Corinth. In the second century the city was embellished by the Emperor Hadrian and by Herodes Atticus. In 521 Corinth was destroyed by a severe earthquake, and thereafter only Acrocorinth remained inhabited, until in the 10th century a settlement grew up in the area of the ancient Agora. Neither under the Franks (from 1210) nor under Turkish rule was Corinth able to recover its former importance; nor indeed has it done so in modern times.

Rail lines to Athens/Piraeus, Patras-Kalamáta, Argos-Kalamáta.