centuries
of history

The olive tree had a very important role in the daily life of Greeks. In Ancient Greece it was considered sacred, godsend, and it was protected by the state. The importance of the olive tree to ancient Greeks is highlighted in the most ancient texts, amphorae and monuments.

Ancient
Corinth

Ancient Corinth, named after the hero Corinth, son of Marathon, the richest city in the ancient world (until surpassed by Athens), ruled over an area of 900 sq. km. with two ports (Lechaeus, Kechreies). Pegasus, the main symbol of Ancient Corinth, was imprinted on the Corinthian Stators (silver coins). Popular Corinthian products included textiles, olive oil, poros limestone, as well as local pottery products. Ancient Corinthians founded many colonies in Greece (Potidea, Halkidiki) and in other lands (Syracuses, Sicily -with which they formed a strong alliance).

Geomorphology

Only a narrow strip of land, the Isthmus of Corinth, connected the Peloponnese with the rest of Greece. The ancients constructed the Diolkos, enabling boats to be moved overland. The modern canal, is still an important commercial route and the second most important tourist attraction after the Parthenon.

Archaeological
finds

The Agora, temples, fountains, baths, shops, underground galleries, the Acrocorinth, the theater, the Conservatory, the Asklepie, the potter’s quarter, cemeteries etc and prehistoric settlements.

Mythology

Sisyphus, who tricked death twice and got punished for his hybris, was Corinth’s first king. He saved his city from the lack of water by a spring gifted from river-god Asopos. Sisyfus grandson, Vellerefontis, tamed the winged horse Pegasus, and killed Chimera. His attempt to climb Mount Olympus with Pegasus to dwell with the Gods, resulted in his sentence to death for his hybris. The couple Jason (Argaunotica epic poem) and Medea arrived in Corinth after their persecution. There she murdered their children after he left her for another woman. Oedipus arrived in Corinth as an infant and was adopted by the royal family. Asking the oracle of Delphi (Pythia) about his real family, he got no specific clue except that he would kill his father and marry his mother. So it happened in Thebes, he killed Laius and married Jocasta. Neptune and Sun fought over The Isthmus and the city of Corinth -a dispute solved by the other gods by splitting the prizes. On the Isthmus shore, the people of Corinth collected the corpse of Melikert, after his mother Ino took their lives by falling in the Aegean sea holding him in her arms. He was worshiped thereafter as the deity Palaimon and the Isthmian Games were instituted by Sisyphus in his honor.