Canal on the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece

This might be a brief post, but during a stop in Greece on the cruise, and on our way to visit the ruins of ancient Corinth, we stopped to see a canal which was dug through the Isthmus of Corinth. Below is a photo of a map displayed at the site which can give you an idea of the shape of the Corinthian Isthmus (at the “you are here” spot on the map). This helped me understand why it would have been desirable to build a canal through this area and shave off days of sailing between the Gulf of Corinth and the Gulf in the Aegean Sea. The canal is a little over four miles long.

The canal was contemplated in ancient times (as early as the 7th Century BC) and an attempt was actually started in the first century AD. However, the canal you see in my photos was not started until 1881. The two photos below look in opposite directions at the canal and were taken from the modern bridge used by road traffic crossing the canal. The top photo is facing north and the bottom facing south. You can see from the map we were near the center of the Isthmus.

The canal is quite narrow at the bottom (70 feet) and cannot be used by most modern ships. The walls were cut quite straight and after construction did collapse a few times.

At one of the shops near the bridge, I saw some posters showing boats on the canal. The photo on the left was what they think the older ships looked like and the one on the right shows modern tourist ships passing through the canal. (These are photos of posters in a store.)

We stopped to see the canal on our way to the site of ancient Corinth. On our way back towards Athens after our morning at the ruins, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the canal. Scenic, no?

We dropped down near the water, and, although promised that we might see the bridge lift to let one of the tourist boats through, alas, all was quiet while we were there.

We enjoyed good food and a lovely view (although I enjoyed eating the food so much I didn’t stop to take a picture of it).

I got a shot of some men fishing just below the restaurant, along with a Greek flag flying near our tables, and, again, lovely flowers, brilliant in the sunshine.

So many places full of beauty in the world and so much history to learn!