Monastery Agnundos - Corinth

It continued today after all.

After a few kilometers drive, we reached the Agnundos Monastery. The idyllic, castle-like monastery was built in the 11th century. There are no nuns living here today. Nevertheless, Steffi had to wear a skirt (wrapped cloth) over her long jeans at the entrance. It has to be done ... The monastery was built like a small castle to defend against attacks by pirates and Ottomans. The birds chirp in the romantic, green courtyard and there are 500-year-old frescoes and icons to see in the lovely domed church. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the church. Overall, a pretty spot, right on the busy coastal road Corinth-Epidaurus.

We then continued to Corinth. First, we visited the famous canal. The Isthmus of Corinth is cut through at its narrowest point by a 6.3 km long, straight canal. The water depth is just under 8m. With a maximum width of 25m, it is too narrow for modern ocean freighters of over 10,000 GRT. The canal was opened in 1893 and saves 325 km that would be required to circumnavigate the Peloponnese. The idea for the canal is about 2600 years old, but it was not until Nero's time that 6,000 Jewish slaves were obliged to finally realize the project. However, the construction work had to be stopped soon due to political complications.

We only drove through Corinth itself. Too hot, no parking, and not much fun for Ziva made us decide not to visit. Although Corinth has only about 35,000 inhabitants, it seemed huge to us.

We are now in Old Corinth, a village of 1,800 inhabitants below the mighty rock of Acrocorinth. Here we took a sightseeing tour and stumbled upon the Spartathlon by chance. This is an ultra-marathon event. 246 km are covered in 2 days - and that in these temperatures. Of course, we didn't run, but we saw the first runners arrive at the checkpoint and refreshment station in the village at kilometer 93. They still looked surprisingly good.

We will head to the mountains tomorrow.