November 25, 2017

Corinth Canal – The division of Continental Greece

The Corinthian strait is a man-made canal in Greece.

It is 6,3 km long, and was built between 1881 and 1893, with the intention of making the boat route smaller.

As only 21 meters wide, it is very narrow for international freighters, and is mainly used by tourist boats.

It is located between the Peloponnese region and between mainland Greece, making the peninsula an island.

The canal has brought a great economic benefit to the region, as it has created a sea route connecting the waters of the Gulf of Corinth with those of the Saronic Gulf, which is in the Aegean Sea, thus allowing smaller vessels to shorten their journey by more than 400 kilometers.

History of the Corinth Canal

The Greeks have always dreamed to build this canal, and there are indications that early ideas date back to the 7th century BC.

The first to begin the works was Emperor Nero, in the year 67 AD. He sent 6000 slaves to the site to dig it, but with his death, the project stopped.

The new era of the constuction of the corinth canal started in 1881, but due to financial and geological problems it was only completed in July 1893. When it was ready, because it was very narrow, the canal did not attract many ships of international navigation, so most of the boats that pass there, around 11,000 annually, are tourist boats.

As we visited the site by motorhome, we slept in a dirt park right by the canal and there was no problem, it was right at the beginning of the strait, on the Aegean side.

There is a bridge, which submerged, when permission was given for the boats to move forward.

To see the passage of the boats in the most central part of the canal, we took a short walk to the big bridge above and from there we took some beautiful photographs and observed thit fantastic work of engineering.

Anyone who is just passing through, can stop at a park near one of the bridges, there are cafes and restaurants in case you feel like getting some rest.

Coordinates of the park in which we spent the night in a motorhome (without facilities), in the Canal of Corinth: 37º57’03.3”N 22º57’36.6”E

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