Ancient Corinth

Ancient Corinth, a city at the crossroads of the seas

Corinth was one of the richest and most powerful cities of ancient Greece. Situated at the foot of Acrocorinth, at the entrance to the isthmus linking central Greece to the Peloponnese, it controlled both the land routes and the trade between the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea. Its two ports, Lechaion on the Gulf of Corinth and Cenchreae on the Saronic Gulf, gave it an exceptional commercial position.

From the Archaic period onwards, the Corinthians developed a vast maritime network and founded several colonies, notably Corcyra (Corfu) and above all Syracuse in Sicily. The city became famous for its craftsmen, its pottery, its merchants and its wealth. Destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC, it was refounded as a colony by Julius Caesar in 44 BC and quickly regained its importance, becoming the capital of the Roman province of Achaea.

In antiquity, Corinth also had a reputation as a city of pleasures. Strabo mentions numerous hetaerae dedicated to Aphrodite, whose sanctuary overlooked the city from Acrocorinth. The traditional image of hundreds of "sacred prostitutes" working in the temple is, however, now strongly questioned: the ancient sources do not allow us to establish the existence of a genuine organized ritual prostitution.

The archaeological site of Corinth

The most spectacular monument is the Temple of Apollo^★★★, built around 530 BC. Its seven mighty monolithic Doric columns still standing, out of the thirty-eight the building probably had, are one of the few important remains of the Greek city from before the Roman conquest.

Around the temple stretches the vast Roman forum, laid out with porticoes, shops, small sanctuaries and public buildings. Notable among them are the Temple of Octavia and the Bema^★, a monumental tribune where the governor administered justice and which Christian tradition associates with the trial of the apostle Paul before the proconsul Gallio.

North of the forum, the Propylaea opened onto the wide Lechaion Road, a monumental axis lined with colonnades and shops that led towards Corinth's main port. Nearby is the Peirene Fountain^★★, one of the best-preserved monuments on the site. Known since Greek times and extensively remodelled under the Romans, it supplied the city with water through a series of basins and underground reservoirs. Mythology held that it sprang from the tears of the nymph Peirene.

The route also allows visitors to observe the remains of baths, fountains, porticoes and sanctuaries that give a good idea of the extent of the Roman city. Further south were the theatre, the odeon and the Asklepieion, while Acrocorinth^★★ still dominates the landscape above the city.

Archaeological Museum of Corinth

Set directly beside the ruins, the Archaeological Museum of Corinth^★ is a valuable complement to the visit. Its collections span a very broad period, from Prehistory to the Byzantine era, with sculptures, inscriptions, mosaics, ceramics and objects from excavations in the city and its surroundings.

Among the most remarkable works are the two Archaic kouroi from Tenea, as well as numerous sculptures from the Roman period. The fragments from the theatre are particularly interesting: its facade was decorated with large sculpted compositions depicting in particular an Amazonomachy, a Gigantomachy and the labours of Heracles, evidence of the monumental decoration of Corinth in the imperial period.