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Landmark5th – 7th c. ADFree

Hexamilion Wall

Hexamilion, Εξαμίλιον τείχος

wall · Corinthia, Greece

What it is
The Hexamilion, the "six-mile wall", was built across the Isthmus of Corinth between AD 408 and 450, under the emperor Theodosius II, to close the only land route into the Peloponnese against the invaders of the late Roman world.
What you’ll see
The wall ran from the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. It was built with a core of rubble and mortar faced with squared stones, larger and more carefully cut on the northern face than on the southern.
Worth the trip?
As part of a visit to Isthmia, yes; on its own, less so: the remains are ruined stretches beside the roads rather than a continuous wall, and they are best understood with the fortress and the sanctuary next to them (en.wikipedia; the photographs).
Getting there & cost
The mapped sections lie at the eastern end of the Isthmus, about 1 km east of the sanctuary of Isthmia (OpenStreetMap), which has parking and is 10 minutes by car from Corinth (hh.gr).Free · Free (the Ministry of Culture's guide) · checked 9 October 2026Hours, tickets and parking
A sunken stretch of thick wall built of large squared limestone blocks, with rubble masonry above and parked cars and trees at the roadside behind.
A stretch of the Hexamilion, its face of large squared blocks. · Photo: Nefasdicere · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
The squared stone blocks and rubble core of a ruined wall in an excavation trench, with a group of visitors standing on top and a coach and road signs behind.
Visitors on the excavated wall beside the road. · Photo: Nefasdicere · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

The Hexamilion, the “six-mile wall”, was built across the Isthmus of Corinth between AD 408 and 450, under the emperor Theodosius II, to close the only land route into the Peloponnese against the invaders of the late Roman world. Between 7 and 7.8 km long, 7 m high and 3 m thick, it is in en.wikipedia’s words the largest archaeological structure in Greece; what a visitor finds today are ruined stretches of it near Isthmia.

What is there today

The wall ran from the Gulf of Corinth to the Saronic Gulf. It was built with a core of rubble and mortar faced with squared stones, larger and more carefully cut on the northern face than on the southern. Under Justinian it was strengthened to 153 towers, with forts at either end and the fortress at Isthmia, just north-east of the sanctuary of Poseidon (en.wikipedia). OpenStreetMap maps two ruined sections at the eastern end of the Isthmus, about 1 km east of the sanctuary.

So much stone was needed that buildings all around were dismantled for it, and some were built straight into the wall, the Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia among them. Graffiti of two galleys, scratched into the still-wet mortar of its back face near Tower 15, survive from its builders (en.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

As part of a visit to Isthmia, yes; on its own, less so: the remains are ruined stretches beside the roads rather than a continuous wall, and they are best understood with the fortress and the sanctuary next to them (en.wikipedia; the photographs). Entry is free (the Ministry).

Getting there

The mapped sections lie at the eastern end of the Isthmus, about 1 km east of the sanctuary of Isthmia (OpenStreetMap), which has parking and is 10 minutes by car from Corinth (hh.gr).

Visiting details

Tickets
Free (the Ministry of Culture's guide).
Parking
The sections OpenStreetMap maps lie at the eastern end of the Isthmus, about 1 km east of the sanctuary of Isthmia; no car park or bus stop is mapped at them.

Hours and prices checked 9 October 2026 on the operator's own site. Confirm before travelling.

History

The Greeks had thought of walling the Isthmus since the Persian Wars. The Hexamilion was built in the age of the great invasions, perhaps prompted by Alaric’s attack on Greece in 396 or the sack of Rome in 410. The earthquake of 551 was perhaps the most damaging of those that struck it. In the later 6th or early 7th century the fortress’s gates were hastily walled up, for reasons no source settles, and in 1415 the emperor Manuel II rebuilt the wall against the Ottomans, putting down by force a revolt of local people frustrated by the endless cost of the wall (en.wikipedia).

Nearby

  • A large theatre hollowed out of a hillside, its lower curved rows of stone seats around a wide earthen orchestra, with the low walls of the stage building beyond, then orchards, the plain and mountains across the sea.

    Photo: Future Perfect at Sunrise · Public domain · Commons

    27 km · city · Corinthia

    Sicyon

    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.

  • A vast semicircle of grey stone seating rows climbing a wooded hillside, looking down on a round orchestra and the low ruins of a stage building, with pine forest and mountains beyond.

    Photo: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons

    35 km · site · Argolis

    Sanctuary of Asclepius, Epidaurus

    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).

  • A towering ruin of red brick and rubble, its upper part pierced by an opening and arches, rising from low excavated walls under a blue sky with the modern town behind.

    Photo: George E. Koronaios · CC0 · Commons

    40 km · city · Argolis

    Argos

    The theatre, with about 20,000 seats, is among the largest ancient theatres in Greece.

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 242076354CC BY
Wikidata Q305428CC0
OpenStreetMap way/1368072220ODbL
Ministry of Culture and Sports (Odysseus) — Hexamilion Wall, informationlicence not recorded
Wikipedia (en) — Hexamilion wallCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (en) — Achaia (Roman province)CC BY-SA 4.0