Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, Korinthos, Αρχαία Κόρινθος
city · Corinthia, Greece
3 places to see, the best preserved and best known first.
Photo: George E. Koronaios · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
city · Corinthia
The forum was a huge open space, about 200 m from east to west and 100 m from north to south, laid out along the old Greek South Stoa, which formed its southern edge.
Photo: Zde · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
site · Corinthia
The Roman baths, on the northern edge of the sanctuary, were built about AD 150 in an area probably used by the athletes, on the foundations of a Classical bath of about 360 BC with a swimming pool 30 m square.
Corinth was the capital of Roman Achaia, the province of southern Greece. Rome destroyed the old Greek city in 146 BC, and Julius Caesar refounded it in 44 BC as a Roman colony, Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, which became the capital of the province of Achaia (en.wikipedia). Its remains lie under and around the village of Ancient Corinth, beneath the rock of Acrocorinth, about 5 km south-west of the modern city; its port, the late Roman wall across the Isthmus and the sanctuary of Isthmia both lie within 10 km of the modern city (OpenStreetMap).
The stops each have their own page:
Yes. Ancient Corinth shows a Roman colony in Greece: the excavated centre is the forum of the city Caesar founded (Pleiades), which grew into the capital of the province and where the apostle Paul lived for eighteen months (en.wikipedia). The stops are spread over about 10 km, so a car helps; Ancient Corinth and Isthmia each take about 10 minutes to reach by car from the modern city (the operator).
The modern city of Corinth is the base. Ancient Corinth is 10 minutes by car or 20 minutes by intercity (KTEL) bus from it, and Isthmia, by the Corinth Canal, likewise 10 minutes by car or 20 by KTEL bus (the operator).
Rome declared war on the Achaean League in 146 BC. After the Battle of Corinth the army of Lucius Mummius took the city and burned it; the men were killed and the women and children sold into slavery, and Corinth lay largely deserted until Julius Caesar refounded it in 44 BC, shortly before his assassination. An amphitheatre was built at that time. Rebuilt as a major Roman city, Corinth had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks and Jews and was a centre of the imperial cult; Temple E and the Julian Basilica have both been suggested as places of its worship (en.wikipedia).
The apostle Paul first came here in AD 49 or 50, when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, and stayed eighteen months; his two letters to the Corinthians are in the New Testament (en.wikipedia).
Earthquakes in 365 and 375 and Alaric’s invasion in 396 largely destroyed the city. It was rebuilt on a monumental scale but over a much smaller area, with four churches in the city, another on Acrocorinth and the great basilica at Lechaion (en.wikipedia). The Hexamilion was raised across the Isthmus in the first half of the 5th century (en.wikipedia, Hexamilion wall). At the end of the 6th century Slavs raided Corinth; the city went on declining, and its main settlement moved up to Acrocorinth (en.wikipedia).
Photo: Future Perfect at Sunrise · Public domain · Commons
17 km · city · Corinthia
The Roman bath house, north of the agora, was a brick-built public bath, preserved in fairly good condition with walls up to 4 m high.
34 km · city · Argolis
The theatre, with about 20,000 seats, is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece.
Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
38 km · site · Argolis
Most of what you see is Greek, from the sanctuary's great building period in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC: the Temple of Asclepius, which once held a gold-and-ivory statue of the god; the Abaton, the colonnade where the healing rituals took place; the Tholos, a round building; the Katagogion, a guest house of 160 rooms; the stadium; and the theatre (the operator).
Straight-line distances.
Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| Pleiades 570182 | CC BY |
| Wikidata Q1363688 | CC0 |
| OpenStreetMap way/224709706 | ODbL |
| Wikipedia (en) — Ancient Corinth | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Wikipedia (en) — Hexamilion wall | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Wikipedia (en) — Lechaeum | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
| Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Ancient Corinth, hours and tickets | licence not recorded |
| Hellenic Heritage (H.O.C.R.E.D., for the Ministry of Culture) — Isthmia, hours and tickets | licence not recorded |
| Wikipedia (en) — Achaia (Roman province) | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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