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The Corinth Canal

The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland and therefore effectively making the former an island. The canal is 6.3 kilometre in length and was built between 1881 and 1893.

The first attempt to build a canal was by the tyrant Periander, or Periandros, in 7th century BC. He abandoned the project due to technical difficulties, and instead constructed a simpler and less costly overland stone ramp, named Diolkos, as a portage road. Remnants of Diolkos still exist next to the modern canal.

In the late years of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar foresaw the advantages of such a venture for his newly built Colonia laus Iulia Corinthiensis.

In A.D. 67, the philhellene Roman emperor Nero ordered 6,000 slaves to dig a canal with spades. The next year, Nero died and his successor Galba abandoned the project since it appeared too expensive.

The modern attempt at construction began in the 1870's following the successful opening of the Suez Canal. A French company was hired to build it, but due to financial difficulties, the company ceased work after only the two ends had been dug. Finally, in 1881 the Hungarian architects István Türr and Béla Gerster, who had also been involved with early surveys for the Panama Canal, were hired to plan a new canal. A Greek company led by Andreas Syngros (the main contractor being Antonis Matsas) ultimately took over the project and completed it in 1893.

The Corinth Canal is considered a great technical achievement for its time. It saves the 400 kilometres long journey around the Peloponnesus for smaller ships, but since it is only 21 metres wide it is too narrow for modern ocean freighters. The canal is nowadays mostly used by tourist ships; 11,000 ships per year travel through the waterway. The depth of the canal is 8 metres at low water.

Bridge submerging

At each end of the canal, seashore roads cross using submersible bridges that are lowered to the canal bottom to allow maritime traffic to pass.

The canal was cut through heavily faulted sedimentary rock in an active seismic zone.^[1] Between 1893 and 1940, it was closed a total of four years for maintenance and to stabilize the walls. In 1923 alone, 41,000 cubic meters of material fell into the canal, which required two years to clear it out.^[2]

• Portage railway

1. ^ Geology and Ancient Culture Along the Corinth Canal
2. ^ Corinth Canal History: 1923 A.C. - Nowadays

• Periandros S.A. - Current operator of the Corinth Canal. Website contains photographs, fees and conditions for canal transit, and history of the site.
• Corinth Canal at NASA Earth Observatory
• Satellite view by Google Maps
• Corinthcanal.com

Coordinates: 37°56′04″N, 22°59′02″E