Corinth Canal
From Freepedia
Image:Corinth Canal 2.jpgImage:Bungy jumping off the corinth canal.jpgThe Corinth Canal is a canal connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland and therefore effectively makes it an island.
The canal is 6.3 km in length and was built between 1881 and 1893. It saves the 400 km long journey around the Peloponnesus for smaller ships, but since it is only 21 m wide, it is too narrow for modern ocean freighters. The canal is nowadays mostly used by tourist ships; 11,000 ships per year travel through the waterway.
The first attempt to build a canal at the place was carried out by the tyrant Periander or Periandros in 7th century BC. He abandoned the project due to its technical difficulties and constructed an overland stone ramp, named Diolkos instead. Remnants of Diolkos still exist today next to the modern canal. In the years of the late Roman Republic, Julius Caesar had forseen the advantages of such a venture for his newly built, Colonia laus Iulia Corinthiensis. Later in 67AD the philhellene Roman emperor Nero ordered 6,000 slaves to dig a canal with spades. Unfortunately the following year Nero died, and his successor Galba abandoned the project, since it appeared too expensive to him.
External Links
- Periandros S.A. - Current operator of the Corinth Canal. Website contains photographs, fees and conditions for canal transit, and history of the site.
- Satellite view by Google Maps
