This choice of tour will take you along a perfect scenery drive along the Saronic Gulf before reaching the Ancient City of Corinth where the afternoon will be spent taking in stunning views not only that but your tour guide will be able to show you some fabulous ruins!
Driving to Corinth Canal will take about 2 hours and 20 minutes Photo Break
Your first stop for today will be the Corinth Canal where you can admire the beautiful view!20 Minutes photo Break!
The four-mile-long Corinth Canal through Greece connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. Only 70 ft. wide at sea level, the canal expands to a width of 81 ft. at the top of its 300 ft. high rock walls. Only ships with a width of 58 ft. or less can transit the Corinth Canal. Although the canal saves the 430-mile journey around the Peloponnese, it is too narrow for modern ocean freighters. Corinth Canal, a tidal waterway across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece, joined the Gulf of Corinth in the northwest with the Saronic Gulf in the southeast. The isthmus was first crossed by boats in 600 BC when Periander built a ship railway, small boats being carried on wheeled cradles running in grooves. This system may have been used until the 9th century. Work on the canal began in 1882, and it opened in 1893. The canal is 6.3 km (3.9 miles) long and has a water depth of 8 meters (26 feet); its width varies from a minimum of 21 meters (69 feet) at the bottom to a maximum of 25 meters (82 feet) at the water’s surface. The canal has brought great economic benefits to the ports of Posithonía at its northwest end and Isthmía at its southeast end.
Visiting the areas of Acrocorinth (Corinth Acropolis ) will take about 2 hours.
Acrocorinth is a castle nestled on the steep rock of Acrocorinth and rising above the southwest of Ancient Corinth. It was the fortified acropolis for ancient and medieval Corinth. The fortification was ensured through a system of three enclosures, separated by walls, which were in turn reinforced by towers and bastions. Three imposing pillars lead to its interior, where one can see ruins from buildings of all eras. Parts of the classical period wall are also visible, as well as constructions and additions of new fortifications from the Byzantine period, extended fortification works of the Frankish and Venetian rule, as well as interventions that took place mainly in the interior and during the Ottoman rule. The first fortification on the Acrocorinth dates from the late 7th-early 6th c. B.C., at the time of the Kypselid tyrants.Some extensive classic masonry dates to the 4th century. B.C. From 338 B.C., Acrocorinth passed into the hands of the Macedonians, who were later chased out by Aratos and thus the city became a member of the Achaean League. After the destruction wrought by L. Mommius (146 B.C.), the wall was reconstructed from the same ancient material by Julius Caesar (44 B.C.). The first Christian phase incorporated in the classical wall belonged to the time of Justinian (6th c.). The early and middle Byzantine periods saw the reconstruction and addition of new fortifications (7th – 12th centuries).
The castle of Acrocorinth is a typical example of fortification architecture, bearing construction details and decorative elements from all periods of its history. Its walls follow the natural grain of the rock, they are built along three defensive lines and are reinforced by towers, bastions, and crenellations filled with embrasures, and cannon openings. Gate A had a ditch in front of it, with a wooden mobile bridge. A paved street would lead to its three successive gates. Gate A is arched, crowned with a blind arch, which has preserved a Byzantine marble slab; the second gate is an impressive tower-like, two-storied construction. The interior of the stone staircase leads to underground vaulted halls. The third gate is decorated with a blind, shoe-shaped arch and it is flanked by two strong towers. The castle’s southwest side is occupied by the two-storied Frankish watchtower, with its tiered base and a window embrasure. The lower floor was occupied by a cistern. At the north foot of the hill of Acrocorinth lie the ruins of the Agora of the ancient city of Corinth, with its monumental buildings (sanctuaries, fountains, odeon, theater), stores, the paving on Lechaio Street, the imposing archaic temple of Apollo and the Museum. In antiquity, Acrocorinth was connected to the port of Lechaion and the Long Walls.
The castle’s interior has preserved the remains of temples (Ag. Dimitrios, a three-aisled Venetian basilica, mosques with minaret), fountains, an underground Byzantine cistern with pillars and brick arches, the source of Ano Peirini with two underground areas covered in vaults, a temple of Aphrodite dating to the 5th-4th c.), as well as more recent and successive constructions, etc.
Corinth Archaelogical Site & Corinth Archaelogical Museum
The archaeological site of Ancient Corinth lies on the northern foothills of the Acrocorinth hill, around the Archaic Temple of Apollo. Extended excavations have brought to light the Roman Forum, temples, fountains, porticoes, baths, latrines, and various other monuments. The investigations extended also to the fortress on Acrocorinth, to the south of the organized Archaeological Site, as well as to the north, where prehistoric settlements such as that on the Korakou hill, at HagiosGerasimos, Gonia, and Gyriza were brought to light. To the south of the organized Archaeological Site excavations revealed the Theatre, the Roman Odeon, the temple of Asclepius and Hygieia (Asclepieion), cemeteries, the Potter’s Quarter (Kerameikos), Roman Baths, the walls of the city and many more other building, such as the Frankish Area and a substantial number of Venetian and Ottoman monuments.
Limited excavations were conducted in 1892 and 1906 by the Archaeological Society of Athens under the direction of A. Skias. The systematic excavations of the area, initiated by the American School of Classical Studies in 1896, are continuing today.
This just about wraps up our tour for today, therefore your guide will then drop you back off at your allocated drop-off points where you will be able to spend the rest of the day relaxing and also reviewing your day with us.
*This Private Corinth Ancient City Tour is available all year round.
INCLUSIONS
*Pick up and Drop Off
*Professional Licensed Guide
*Parking Fees
*Transport and Driver
EXCLUSIONS
*Lunch – Drinks
*Entrance Fees
*Gratitude’s
ACROPOLIS OF CORINTH TICKET
General admission fee: €20
The price is reduced by 50% during winter (1 November and 31 March). Children under 18 (with proof of ID), students and others (scroll down for the full list) pay €10 for their tickets (€5 during winter). Entry to the Acropolis not only gives you access to the Citadel (where you can see the Parthenon and the Erechtheion) but also the North and South slopes, where you will find the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the Theatre of Dionysus – amongst other features.
ROMAN CORINTH CITY TICKET
General admission fee: €8, Reduced: €4
Ancient Agora of Athens - Museum of Ancient Agora of Athens
Special ticket package: Full: €30, Reduced: €15
According to the common ministerial decision ΥΠΠΟΑ/ΓΔΑΠΚ/ΔΜ/ΤΑΜΣ/Φ32-Φ56/370862/218709/12209/7831 (FEK 2916 b’/31.12.2015) from the 1st of April 2016 the ticket price for the site (Ancient Agora and Museum of Ancient Agora of Athens) changes to 8 Euros (reduced 4 Euros). The price for the unified ticket changes to 30 Euros (reduced 15 Euros) and has valid for 5 days. Valid for: Acropolis of Athens, Ancient Agora of Athens, Archaeological Museum of Kerameikos, Archaeological Site of Lykeion, Hadrian's Library, Kerameikos, Museum of the Ancient Agora, North slope of Acropolis, Olympieio, Roman Agora of Athens, South Slope of Acropolis.
CORINTH ARCHAELOGICAL MUSEUM
General Admission ticket :5,00 € Reduced Admission ticket , 2,50 € (students and visitors over 65 year old).
Visitors with diasbilities and person accompanying them Free Admission ticket Children under 6 years of age free entrance.
