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BY 8A.M., after
a quick breakfast of coffee and
bread, we were on our way in a
taxi to Acrocorinthos, the ruin
of the fortress and citadel high
above the ancient city. We had
seen it the day before from a
distance but as it was too high
up for George’s car to climb.
. . . Ganid
never grew weary of visiting the
citadel which stood almost
two thousand feet above the sea.
. . [1472]
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The ascent to
Acrocorinth is
1887 ft and is
facilitated by a road
which climbs to a point
near the lowest gate on
the west side. This
commanding site was
fortified in ancient
times, and its defenses
were maintained and
developed during the
Byzantine, Frankish,
Turkish and Venetian
periods. . . .
Within the fortress we
follow a path running
northeast to the remains
of a 16th century mosque
and then turn south
until we join a path
leading up to the
eastern summit, on which
there once stood the
famous Temple of
Aphrodite. [http://www.greecetaxi.gr]
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We
climbed to the top and shot many
pictures and videotape. From
here we were able to look in all
four directions. . . .
. . . One
evening as they strolled about
Corinth out near where the wall
of the citadel ran down to the
sea, they were accosted by two
public women. . . . [1472]
After
a while, I walked down alone to
the taverna for a Greek salad
and a nostalgic Stella Artois
beer. I wanted to sit in this
panoramic spot and take in the
history, read my guidebooks and
write in my diary while waiting
for Joy. When she returned,
having examined every nook,
cranny and crevice of the
citadel, the owner called us a
taxi to take us to the town
square of Old Corinth where we
sat waiting for the bus sipping
ice-cold café frappés. Greece is
one place where one can find
plenty of interesting outdoor
places to eat and drink!
* * *
 At
noon George picked us up for a
tour of the Corinth Canal and
the second harbor, Kenchreai, as
well as the remains of the
tracks over which the Jesus boat
was hauled from one harbor to
the other.
In
Jesus's day the Corinth Canal
had not been built, and boats
arriving from Italy (like the
one Jesus and his companions
traveled on) would dock in one
of Corinth’s harbors and be
dragged overland to the other
harbor when continuing their
journey to Athens and points
east.
Gonod had
many interests in Corinth, but
finally his business was
finished, and they prepared to
sail for Athens. They traveled
on a small boat which could be
carried overland on a land track
from one of Corinth's harbors to
the other, a distance of ten
miles. [1471]
A section
of the diolkos
George
had speculated that over the
last two thousand years the
water has risen, which would
explain the difference between 4
and 10 miles. My theory is that
the harbors are ten miles apart
but the diolkos is only four
miles long—they would have
sailed the boat from one harbor
to the diolkos, tracked the boat
four miles over to the other
side, then sailed it to the
other harbor, for a total of ten
miles. Another idea is that the
overland route has twists and
turns, adding up to a total of
ten miles. Anybody else got any
theories?
* * *
On the
way home we stopped off at
George’s local ouzeri where,
after several small pitchers of
local wine, Joy and I became
very friendly with the regulars
as well as the owner. This gave
me another chance to practice my
almost-forgotten Greek. I caught
it all on videotape!
Back
home Helen had prepared food for
us, so we ate again. By then we
were zonked and all of us joined
in the Greek custom of taking a
long afternoon nap. After a few
hours George woke Joy up to show
her his olive farm, a large
property that had been in the
Markellos family for generations
and which sits on a hill
overlooking modern Corinth.
Having visited it many times in
the past, I skipped the tour in
favor of more sleep.
Still
groggy from the wine, I roused
myself in the early evening as
we had promised the whole family
dinner out at a local taverna.
Alex, the Markellos’s son (I
hadn’t seen him since he was a
young teen) joined us there with
his sophisticated Athenian
girlfriend, Vera. Alex had made
a name for himself in Greek
television as a reporter and
announcer, and was now the
general manager of the local TV
station in Corinth. During
dinner we all became
enthusiastic about the idea of
doing a documentary about Jesus’
time in Corinth, envisioning it
as a slick American production
with a Greek voiceover, that
would show the modern
Corinthians a bit of their
history they were unaware of.
Maybe one day someone will
actually do this!
Back
home Joy and I polished off yet
another bottle of retsina with
George, while Helen stuck to
coffee. Finally George went to
bed, but before he did, he gave
us the keys to the trunk of his
car, calling it his "wine
cellar,” in case we wanted still
more!
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The citadel
Joy was at the very top when she
took this picture of me
A view of the isthmus, four
miles wide at its narrowest
point.
Remains of the harbor at
Kenchreai
George with the Corinth Canal in
the background
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