Ancient Corinth

The site of Ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (5000-3000 BC). The peak period of the town though, started in the 8th century BC and lasted until its destruction by the Roman general Mummius in 146 BC. Representative of its wealth is the Doric temple of Apollo which was built in 550 BC.

The city was re-inhabited in 44 BC and gradually developed again. In 51/52 AD., Apostle Paul visited Corinth. The centre of the Roman city was organized to the south of the temple of Apollo and included shops, small shrines, fountains, baths and other public buildings.

The invasion of the Herulians in 267 AD, initiated the decline of the city and it remained inhabited for many centuries through successive invasions and destructions until it was liberated from the Turks in 1822.

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 still continuing today and have brought to light the agora, temples, fountains, shops, porticoes, baths and various other monuments. The investigations extended also to the fortress on Acrocorinthos, the prehistoric settlements, the theatre, the odeion, the Asklepeion, the cemeteries, the quarter of the potters and other buildings outside the main archaeological site.

Archaeological Museum of Corinth

The museum was built in 1931/32 by the architect W. Stuart Thompson and was extended towards the east in 1950. It contains collections of prehistoric finds, various items ranging from the Geometric to the Hellenistic period, Roman and Byzantine finds, excavation finds from the Asklepieion of Corinth,and a collection of sculptures and inscriptions.

The most important items of the exhibition are:

Large Mycenaean crater from 1200 BC, decorated with a painted representation of warriors on a chariot.

Corinthian amphora with a lid. It bears a representation of two heraldic cocks and a double palmette at the center. Dated to ca. 600 BC.

Marble sphinx from a funerary monument. It is resting on the hind legs and standing on the fore. Traces of painted decoration are preserved on the torso and the wings. Corinthian product dated to the middle of the 6th century BC.

Mosaic pebbled floor with a representation of griffins devouring a horse. It is one of the earliest preserved Greek mosaics dated to ca. 400 BC.

Marble statue of a youth. Roman portrait, possibly of Lucius Caesar, son of Augustus, dated to the end of the 1st century BC or the beginning of the 1st century AD It imitates a Greek original of the first half of the 4th century BC.

Statues of barbarian slaves. Two marble, larger than life statues, representing barbarian slaves. They decorated the pillars with Corinthian capitals which supported the roof of the "Facade of the Captives", a two-storied stoa to the west of the Propylaia. Dated to the 2nd century AD.

Mosaic floor decorated with the head of Dionysos framed by ornaments. It comes from a Roman villa and dates to the 2nd century AD.

Byzantine glazed plate. It is decorated with a representation of Digenis Acritas and a princess, and dates from the 12th century AD It belongs to a series of imported Byzantine vases, spanning the period from the end of the 9th until the end of the 14th century AD.

The fortress of Acrocorinth

The fortress is the most important defensive work of the area from antiquity to more recent times. The history of the fortification is closely connected with that of Corinth. Sections of the wall are discernible from ancient pre-Christian times, the Byzantine period, the Frankish domination, the Venetian domination and finally the Turkish occupation. The fortress (castro) is accessible from the western side, departing from the modern village of Ancient Corinth.

The fortress is secured by a system of three circuit walls reinforced by towers. On the highest of the two mountain peaks are traces of the temple of Aphrodite on the site where later a church and subsequently a Turkish mosque stood . The second top, at the southwest edge of the rock, was fortified during Frankish times and formed the inner keep of the fortress. Remains of churches, mosques, houses, fountains and cisterns are preserved within the second and third fortification walls.

Conservation and restoration has been carried out on various parts of the wall and on a few buildings. The Upper Peirene Spring was restored around 1930. In 1965-66 the bridge over the dry moat and the guard house at the entrance were restored. In 1972-73 the wall between gates a and b was reinforced. The northern end of the second wall near the Kanoni site was reinforced in 1978. Two years later, parts of the outer side of the third wall were reinforced. From 1993 till 1995, the bridge over the moat was replaced and the wall between gates b and c were reinforced and parts of the calderimi paving repaired.

Excavations were carried out by the American School in 1926 on the highest part of Acrocorinth which demonstrated the continuous use of the place from archaic times down to the beginning of the 19th century. At this same time, the excavators opened trenches in the wider area as far as the upper Peirene Spring, revealing a cemetery of Turkish times.

Info and booking an excursion to ancient Corinth
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