The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
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.