Corinth, Acro-Corinth and Mycenae

Greetings from Athens again!!!

We are fine and doing well. We enjoyed our trip today.


We visited the site of Corinth. Corinth importance in ancient times was due to its location near the isthmus with mainland Greece. It had 2 important harbors which it controlled Cenchrea and Lechaion. A great deal of trade traveled through the city. So it control important land and sea routes. This is a site with a long occupation, dating from the Bronze Age like Mycenae.

It flourished from the 7th to the 4th centuries BC. It was destroyed by the Roman General Mummius in 144BC. The Romans punished Corinth because they rebelled against Roman authrity. The leveled every building in the town except for the Temple to Apollo.

The town was restructured as a Roman city and it was this town that Paul visited in the first century. He founded a church at the city and wrote 2 letters to the Christians there. The most impressive structure on the site is the Temple to Apollo it has 7 Doric columns still standing and it is one of the earliest temples in Greece.

We also saw the Bema of the city which is the likely location of Gallio's address as recorded in Acts 18 when Paul is taken before him and charged with crimes against the Jews of the city.

The AcroCorinth rising above the city was the home to the Temple to Aprodite. Her priestess served as Temple prostitutes in the city. The mobile population and this temple led to many of the problems in the Corinth church. The main road to Lechaion is well preserved and has a large fountain, several shops and even public toliet on either side of the street.

The museum has many important statues and frescos. It also has an inscription from a 5th century synagogue in the city. Corinth had an Askelpion healing center and some of the votive offerings of models of body parts offered to god for healing are on display.

The odeon and theater of the site were closed. But a few of us found a way to enter the theater area so we could see the famous Erastus inscription which mentions that Erastus a leader in the city paid for a pavement on the east side of the theater. Erastus is mentioned as a Christian convert and friend of Paul in Romans 16.

We then drove up to the bottom of the top of Acro-Corinth. Then several of us hiked to the top. This quite a hike but we were rewarded with an amazing view of the city and harbors below. This was the site of the Aprodite temple and later fortresses from the Frankish, Ottoman, and Venetian periods.


We ate lunch near the canal which was cut through the Isthmus in the late 19th century.

The we drove to Mycenae the site which provides the name for the Mycenean Civilization. The city flourished during the Bronze Age esp from 1600 to 1100 BC. Here is a good website with information about and images of Mycenae http://wms.erudition.net/mycenae.html

This site has an amazing Lion's Gate and a tholos or beehive tomb nearby. This site was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century who found rich burials in the Grave Circle A with several gold objects. On the citadel of the site is the Megaron which was the audience hall/palace of the King. We also visited the well preserved Tholos or beehive tomb called the Treasury of Atreus. It was a burial place for the elites of the Bronze age 14th cent. BC. With a large dromos or entranceway and the tomb itself was flanked by large columns on either side. This style of tomb is constructed of stone in a beehive shape and then earth is piled on top. The dromos is dug out each time a new burial is needed.

Tomorrow we head out for our last day of touring. We are ending with a beautiful site called Delphi, home to the oracle.

John Wineland
Athens, Greece