Piraeus, Gateway to Corinth

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

                             

Most of the passengers were all abuzz about their visit to Athens, but we wanted to see some Greek countryside and visit the ancient city of Corinth.  Today was a real treat.  We had a prime docking spot so it was just through the terminal and into the bus for our excursion.  Piraeus, the harbor for this port, is extremely busy and industrial.  The city was quiet because many were still on holiday from Easter.  The guide explained that traffic would pick up by the time of our return and she was correct.

The skies were gray and rain was forecast.  The sea was also gray and it was hard to distinguish the sky from the sea.  The marvelous wonder of the Corinth Canal was about 1 1/2 hour drive.  Our guide spent most of that time talking about the down side of being a part of the European Union, and the problems that Greece was enduring due to all the unrest in the Middle East.  She explained that the EU didn’t provide a fair price for agricultural products so Greece was just “dumping” the citrus and olives rather than selling them.  Could this attitude be partially to blame for the financial situation that Greece finds itself in?

The canal was cut through the land between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesian peninsula in 1893.  This 4 mile waterway connects the Ionian and Aegean Seas and saves many miles for the small ships and boats traveling between the east port of Greece and points on the Ionian and Adriatic Seas.  The cut for the canal is 170 feet deep with only 8 feet of water.  It is only 70 feet wide so the lack of water depth and width considerably restricts the size of vessels which use the canal. Our ship is much too large to transit the Corinth Canal but Barney and I walked across the canal and got some nice pictures.   We saw only one boat in the canal and it was just leaving.  Prior to the canal being built, boats were pulled across the isthmus from sea to sea on a wheeled vehicle.  

  

                                       

The canal was built by Ferdinand De Lesseps, who also built the Suez Canal and tried to build the Panama Canal, but was not successful.  We have transited the Panama, Suez (twice) and Kiel Canals, and have now crossed the Corinth – that’s the four major ocean canals in the world. 

The ancient city of Corinth was another 20 minute drive from the canal.  The countryside was dotted with olive and citrus trees, and clean neat Greek homes.  We could see the Acrocorinth on a conical mountain.  This fort was built in ancient times to protect the city. 

  

The Greeks had built a very advanced city here in the 6th Century BC. It was similar to Ephesus and other ancient cities in the Mediterranean area.  The Greek city was destroyed by earthquakes and abandoned.  Julius Caesar built a Roman city on top of the Greek ruins.  Today you find a mixture of Greek and Roman artifacts.  (They all looked Greek to us.) There was a large Grecian Temple of Apollo, a well developed agora, or market, water systems, stadium, public pools, an aqueduct and everything else that ancient cities contained.  The Apostle Paul arrived here via boat on his second journey,  working as a tent maker and trying to convert the citizens to Christianity.  He stayed here about 18 months.  We stood on the location where he preached to the citizens.  Two of his letters in the New Testament were written to the people of Corinth.

  

  

  

Restoration of this area was started in the early 1900’s by American archaeologists and is still underway, mostly with US work and funding.  We may find an Elderhostel that is doing work here and sign up.  Would that ever be interesting work!

  

The area had a very well developed museum with artifacts from both the Greek and Roman times.  It was easy to get “up close and personal” with some of the items. 

                

                              

Back at the ship we had a late lunch and then relaxed in anticipation of the upcoming tours.  We booked the next two formal nights in the Pinnacle Grill with our Israel traveling partners – the best of both worlds.  Don’t think we will miss the dining room at all. 

                             

Sail out isn’t until 11 pm because they are bringing on local folklore talent to entertain us. We love the local entertainment so it is our intent to stay awake.  We hope the Greek dancers are as good as the ones we love to watch at the Greek Festival in Omaha. 

We are now in the midst of a loud thunderstorm with lightening and heavy rain.  Time to shut down the computer. 

By the way, if there was “chaos” at sea last night, we slept through it.