ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF ANCIENT CORINTH

This 5-hectare site (Αρχαιολογικός Χώρος Αρχαίας Κορίνθου/Archaiologikos Choros Archaias Korinthou) houses the remains and museum of ancient Corinth, one of the most powerful Greek cities of antiquity and one of the first hotbeds of Christianity in Europe. It lies in the center of the modern village of Archea Korinthos/Αρχαία Κόρινθος (population approx. 1,800), whose name means "ancient Corinth". This one has several restaurants, accommodation and stores around the ruins as well as two free parking lots for visitors. The complex is dominated to the south-west by the Acrocorinth citadel. Corinth was founded around 900 BC and had a population of up to 90,000 in the ^3rd century BC. However, most of the remains date back to Late Antiquity: the city revolted against the Romans and was razed to the ground in 146 BC, then refounded by Julius Caesar in 44 BC. In addition, a redevelopment project aims to enhance the monuments and relocate the museum.

Temple of Apollo and Roman forum. For the time being, the entrance is to the north-west, near the west parking lot. Opposite the museum stands the Fountain of Glauce, a rock-cut cistern fed by an aqueduct from Acrocorinth. Dating from the Archaic period and modified by the Romans, it bears the name of the daughter of Creon, the legendary king of Corinth. A little further on, the Temple of Apollo is an excellent photo opportunity, with the Acrocorinth in the background. This is one of the oldest Doric buildings. Built around 560 BC, it was spared by the Romans. It retains seven of its 42 massive columns, each carved from a single block of oolite. These rise to a height of 7 m, and five still support part of the entablature. To the south of the temple lies the vast Roman forum (200 x 100 m), which was the center of the city until the Middle Ages. Completed around 150 A.D., it was surrounded by porticoes housing stores, a sacred spring (under the temple) and, to the south, the agonotheteion (mosaic-adorned judges' hall) and the bouleuterion (semicircular council chamber). To the east, the long Basilica Julia, named in honor of Julius Caesar, served as a court and commercial center.

St. Paul's Bema and Lechaion Way. In the center of the forum stands the base of the "bêma de saint Paul". It was here, in the year 51, that the apostle Paul was tried by rabbis for Christian proselytism. The proconsul Gallion, brother of the philosopher Seneca, attended Paul's plea and set him free. Three years later, the apostle wrote the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians to guide converts, especially from the city's Jewish community. Together with the Epistles to the Thessalonians and the Philippians (Macedonia), these New Testament texts are the pillars of the organization of Christianity. In the ^7th century, the bêma was transformed into a church, of which the bases and a bas-relief with a cross remain. To the north, the Lechaion road led to the port of Corinth, 4 km to the north. The urban section (140 m long) retains its pavement and ends with the bases of a monumental triple-arched gateway. It is bordered by the remains of stores and the great Pirene fountain (^6th century BC), reworked by the Romans and named after a sacred spring on the Acrocorinth.