Corinth, Greece

Just as I was taking my last photo at Mycenae my battery went flat so I changed it ready for the next event. To my horror as it powered up it showed only 17% charge! Oh no – my third battery was at home base. I couldn’t believe it as I had charged them all at home in NZ before leaving and didn’t think it would have drained that quickly. Having little battery for Corinth and Epidavrus was like a mini nightmare to me. Vern reassured me that we had ‘Nancy’ (our nickname for IPAD) and that we could use that if worst came to worst which for me is better than nothing but far from what I would ideally like for such photo opportunities that lay ahead. Nothing to be done but try not let the anxiety ruin the experience of visiting the places ahead.

Travelling to Corinth continued to be scenic in its own Greek way for example seeing a marble hill just sticking up is something we do not see at home. George suggested we have an hour and a half at Ancient Corinth which I thought would be too long, but its amazing how time flies wandering around these places.

Set at the base of a hill, Akrokorinthos, the site was occupied continuously from the Neolithic period (6500 BC) to the Middle Ages. Economic and artistic heights of Corinth began in the 8th c. BC and the city reached its growth peak 7 c. BC. It was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC and resettled by Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

Key sites are some pillars of its Doric style temple of Apollo, the Glauke fountain (cut into the natural rock 5th c. BC), Peirene fountain, and the tribunal (bema) from which St. Paul spoke to the Corinthians in AD 52.

Its great to wander around these sites and imagine them as the alive cities they were – Corinth had about 90,000 residents at its peak. The Peirene fountain was very grand with marble columns and a fountain being fed from an underground spring with a capacity of 81,000 litres. You can hear the water flowing underneath which helps the imagination.

Near the bema where Paul would have spoken is an original whipping column where they punished people. Paul was punished here, but they do not know the exact spot. I listened to the guide talk about the whippings and they sounded quite brutal. They did not believe in prisons as punishment but delivered out various measures of pain up to including death! For the pillars you knelt with your arms around and secured to a peg (might be able to see the hole on the photo). Beatings were done in public to discourage repeat offending. It was an unusual feeling to touch that stone.

In the museum were some beautiful mosaics – I always marvel at the detail and colours of them. Note in the photo the peak of the hill behind this …. that was my next bit of exercise. George drove us up to view the old fort of Acrocorinth to see the great views across the gulf of Corinth. Whilst you got up quite far by car, it was still a lot further to walk up the 574m high hill/mountain and it was again tricky – uneven and slippery without much aid from rails or walls. The views were great and we had fun doing the selfies – just for you Lili! Acrocorinth was first a Greek acropolis, then a Roman citadel. The Franks, Turks, Byzentine and Venetians also had their turns. The first part you see the picture of Vernon at is the entry and dates to 7c B.C.

By this time we had worked up quite an appetite and it was after 2pm. George took us quicky to a bridge over the famous canal that cuts the peninsular off the mainland and then to a restaurant at the base. We had a nice taverna style lunch – mine a particularly huge seafood dish – €13 with a whole school of sardines! I started munching everything whole like Tom my brother does, but was running out of room and wondered if in fact it was not lady like to eat a prawns head and tail – or a sardine from nose to tip, that I did start to fillet and de-shell them. Verns grill platter was very nicely seasoned and grilled with a nice juicy pop to the meat.

Vernon really loved the canal for its feat of engineering, and me – well the colour is amazing! It links the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean sea. The idea to make this canal dates back as far as the first century AD, however it was not started till 1891 and completed in 1893. It is too narrow for todays modern large vessels and is mainly used for tourist traffic than major commercial use.

Next stop was the Theatre of Epidavrus.