Day 01
Isthmus Canal, Ancient Corinth & Mycenae Tour
Isthmus Canal
- Visit the Isthmus Canal, one of the most important projects and 19th century engineering masterpieces, playing a catalytic role for the Mediterranean trade.
- Visit Ancient Diolkos, a paved trackway in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth.
Acrocorinth
- Visit Acrocorinth, the acropolis of ancient Corinth, a monolithic rock overseeing the ancient city of Corinth. It is one of the most impressive and dominant acropoleis of the Peloponnese.
- Gates: A system of 3 circuit walls reinforced by towers.
- Keep
- Peirene Spring: Located within the encircling walls, a gift of Asopus to Sisyphus.
- Temple of Aphrodite: On the highest of the two picks of the mountain are traces of the temple of Aphrodite on the site.
- Frankish Tower: At the SW edge of the precipitous rock fortified during Frankish times forming the inner keep of the fortress. Remains of churches, mosques, houses, fountains and cisterns are preserved here.
- Views of Geraneia Mountain: Enjoying breathtaking views of the Corinthian gulf and the SW coast of the Peloponnese.
Ancient Corinth
- Hadgimoustafa spring: a fountain built during the Ottoman empire.
- Ancient Corinth Archaeological Museum: Housing a large collection of artifacts from the local site and from smaller sites in the neighboring area.
- Temple of Apollo: One of the earliest Doric temples in the Peloponnese and the Greek mainland with monolithic columns, rare in the ancient world, built around 560 BCE.
- Agora: A rectangular construction 160 m long and 70 m wide, consisting of central shops, small temples and altar and the renowned podium or Bema from where Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthians in 52 AD.
- Roman buildings.
- Bema or Pedestal
- Theatre and Odeon/Asklepieion
- Lechaion road: Facing the Corinthian gulf leading to the port of Lechaion.
- St. Paul's church: Admiring a magnificent mosaic mural depicting Saul's vision from Christ as he was travelling to Damascus to persecute the Christians.
- Treat yourself to an authentic "village style" lunch on a magnificent terrace overlooking ancient Corinth's archaeological site and the temple of Apollo.
- Stroll amongst the village shops where you can treat yourself and buy handmade souvenirs for your family and friends.
Mycenae
Rich in gold! King Agamemnon's mythical kingdom sung in Homer's epics. It is the most important and richest center of the late Bronze Age.
- The Lions Gate: The main entrance of the Bronze age citadel of Mycenae erected during the 13th century BC.
- Grave Circles A and B: Royal cemeteries situated to the south of the Lion Gate and outside the Bronze Age citadel.
- The Cyclopean Walls: The main characteristic of the Mycenean walls is that they are made of huge limestone boulders. Only the mythical Cyclopes had the strength to move the enormous boulders that made up the walls of Mycenae and Tiryns.
- The Royal Palace: Consisting of domestic apartments, the Throne Room Suite, the Grand Staircase, a collection of rooms for officers or palace officials and the Forecourt.
- The Treasury of Atreus: A large tholos or beehive tomb constructed during the Bronze Age around 1250 BC.
- Tomb of Clytemnestra: A Mycenean tholos type tomb built in 1250 BC named after Clytemnestra the wife of king Agamemnon and leader of the Greeks in Trojan war.
- The Mycenean Archaeological Museum: The most important Mycenean artifacts are exhibited here. You will be dazzled by the gold grave goods, burial masks, jewellery, weapons, worship idols and frescoes.
