GUIDE TO THE KORINTHIA

WALKS AROUND ANCIENT KORINTH:

One of the pleasant things about staying in Ancient Korinth is the many walks that you can take in and around the village.  These can range from an easy stroll to a vigorous hike.  Even the daily walk down to the plateia can become a peripetia (adventure), as you follow different paths and wander off the regular road.  Sadly, because of the social changes taking place in Greece and the arrival of many, many migrants from former Soviet-block countries, it is not always safe to walk alone in remote areas of the village.  Women should be especially careful not to walk alone since there have been quite a number of attacks (if, by the way, you are attacked, yell really loudly and act fierce: the attacker will usually run away since most of them are teen-agers who are just acting tough!).  When you go for a walk, be sure that someone knows where you are going and when you will be back and bring water and your hat.  Among the walks suggested are the following:

KRANION BASILICA AND EAST OF THE VILLAGE:

            Simply walk out of the hotel and turn immediately right (east).  As mentioned above, this is certainly the line of an ancient road and although there have been almost no excavations in the area, ruins are visible at several places.  About 500 m. from the hotel are the remains of the late Roman wall around the city crossing the road.  A bit farther along is the ancient suburb of Kranion (the "Place of the Skull") which had a famous cemetery.  The most important monument there is the so-called Kranion Basilica, built (probably) in the early 6th century A.D. on the site of the presumed tomb of a martyr of the early Christian Church--you can see the tombs of the Roman period around the apse of the church and the special trefoil martyrium on the south side of the church.  Later Christian tombs are visible within and outside the church.  This site is unprotected, so please be careful.  You can return to the hotel by the same road, or turn off to the right or left and come back another way.  A short distance beyond the basilica you come to the highway and it's probably better not to walk along it.

SOUTHERN PART OF THE VILLAGE AND HADJI MUSTAFA:

              Just walk toward the base of Akrokorinth along any of the winding streets that go in that direction.  You'll pass many pleasant houses and gardens and eventually wind up at the Fountain of Hadji Mustafa, constructed in 1515 (during the Turkish period) from earlier monuments.  You will notice the inscription, written in Arabic characters in a language that is a curious mix of Arabic and Turkish.  It reads: "Joseph the tailor ordered the construction of this [fountain] for flowing water entirely at his own expense, for the love of God, let him be exalted, and desiring to please the Merciful Lord, in the nine hundred and twenty-first year [of the Hegira = A.D. 1515]."  (Translation by Pierre A. MacKay, Hesperia 36 [1967] 193-95.)  The fountain is occasionally turned off, but if it's working you may meet sheep coming for a drink or someone washing his/her car.  The water is safe to drink.  You can either return to the village or go on to the west toward the small village of Anaploga (Agioi Anargyroi).  Alternatively, you can walk up to the entrance of Akrokorinth.

  PENTESKOUPHI: 

Penteskouphi is the small fort built by the Crusaders to blockade Akrokorinth in the early 13th century.  Some caution is advised here since farms immediately below it are owned by an unpleasant farmer with fierce dogs and a habit of carrying a gun!  The castle on the top of the conical hill is small but in good condition, almost as it was left by the Crusaders centuries ago.  You can also take a vigorous walk around the west side of Akrokorinth and Penteskouphi toward Penteskouphi village.  You walk through the village of Anaploga (see above; Anaploga can be reached by walking through the plateia of Ancient Korinth and keeping on straight past the excavations) and continue on to the west.  The dirt road wanders up through scrub (and past a garbage dump!), but eventually opens up into a very rich and isolated valley.  Dedicated hikers can continue on around the southern flank of Akrokorinth to the village of Solomos or keep on to the south, eventually coming out in the Argolid.  

THE NORTHERN PART OF THE VILLAGE:

If you walk south (downhill) out of the plateia, or continue south down the hill from ROOMS MARINOS, you will come to a series of houses that lie on the sloping terrace that goes from the foot of Akrokorinth all the way to a cliff that runs east-west along the northern edge of the village.  In this area are the Asklepeion (see discussion on this), a number of Ottoman fountains, the so-called Pasha's Palace (actually the remains of the palace of Kemal Bey, the last ruler of Ottoman Korinth), the Fountain of Aphrodite, Venetian fortifications, and, to the west, near the modern highway, the ancient North Cemetery.  It's easy to get lost in this area, but at the same time, if you just go uphill you will soon come to a road that will take you back to the plateia and the hotel.  From the northern part of the village you can go down into the lower plain, a rich agricultural area, now quickly being taken over by light industry, but there is little to see (except for farms!), although you can continue on down to the sea, if you have plenty of time (and water!).

This site is created and updated by Timothy E. Gregory (gregory.4@osu.edu)

Last updated 12 April 2000