Corinth Canal - Corinthia (Greece)
Corinth Canal. The Corinth Canal in Greece is a canal that connects the Corinthian gulf with the Saronic Gulf. The canal is located east of the city of Corinth.
Since ancient times one was aware of the economic importance of a rapid transit between the Corinthian and the Saronic sea, but it only came to a real attempt to dig a canal under the Roman emperor Νero. The idea came from Julius Caesar and Caligula.
In 68 AD. he had dug thousands of slaves on both sides of the isthmus. When Nero committed suicide in the same year the works came to an end immediately. Herodes Atticus later tried to continue digging, but he eventually gave it up.
Only in the nineteenth century, the plan was achieved, when the engineer Petros Protopapadakis started the construction of the canal in 1880 and in 1893 it could be opened to shipping traffic.
Six bridges, five for cars and one for the railroad, connect the Peloponnese with the mainland of Greece, about 70 meters above the water. The channel has shortened the route between Piraeus and the Ionian Sea by about 350 kilometres. Yet the canal of Corinth is only suitable for medium-sized ships, because strong currents make it dangerous for small boats, while the shallow draft is a drawback for large ships.
Text: Yorgos and Wendy Nikolidakis - Revised by Maxine van Hoften Gee
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