Ancient Greece

The Corinth Canal runs through the isthmus just east of New Corinth. It is four miles long, seventy six feet wide, twenty six feet deep and over two hundred feet from the seabed to the bridges on the top.

Good Day Everyone,

On Tuesday 8 April Arcadia was alongside in Piraeus - Greece. This is a busy harbour where most people head off to visit Athens and the Acropolis. However some Arcadians decided to visit the nearby ancient splendours of Corinth and to follow in the footsteps of St Paul.

From the bridges across the Corinth Canal - you can have an excellent view down into the depths - but you would need a head for heights!

The canal was built between 1881 and 1893 and it can take ships of up to about 10,000 tons gross and shortens the distance between Italy and Piraeus by two hundred miles.

The morning that we were there some fearless folk were preparing to bungy jump from one of the bridges.....................rather them than me................!

In the days of St Paul, Ancient Corinth possessed a forum larger than Rome,with temples, theatres, baths , shops and basilicas. After leaving the wonder of the Corinth Canal some Arcadians went to see the site of Ancient Corinth as it is now. Above you can see the Doric Temple of Apollo which overlooks the beautiful Saronic Gulf.

The city was guarded by the imposing fortress on the heights of the Acrocorinth and its ruins can still be seen today.

In ancient days - Corinth was a wealthy and licentious city. One of the most impressive relics today is the beautifully paved twenty five foot wide Lechaion Road , where St Paul walked and preached.

From the the temple of Apollo you can look over the city as it is today. It is a marvellous feeling to think that you are, indeed, walking in the footsteps of St Paul..............

Above you can see the altar of Zeus which was the centre point of the city. Anybody of any importance, when wishing to address the populace, would stand with their back to this stone. Without doubt, St Paul would have stood here.

The site of Ancient Corinth is very well preserved and excavations are on going. It was a warm morning with a cloudless blue sky when the Arcadians visited. Had the Roman baths been in better condition some of us may well have enjoyed a refreshing dip...........!

A good picture of the Lechaion Road and on the right you can make out the remains of shops. These are the original white marble slabs - more ideas for my Patio!!..........

Look carefully through the "round window" ....what can you see? This also reminds me of a porthole in my early days at sea - before ships had windows!..............or balconies.......

The Corinth Museum houses an impressive collection of relics unearthed from the ruins. Did you know that ancient sculptors specialised in either sculpting bodies or heads? Here you have a selection of "bodies" awaiting their portrait heads.

More of the many wonderfully preserved statues......

This sphinx was "discovered" by a local farmer when his plough hit it...hence the damage. What other wonderful treasures are yet to be discovered waiting under the warm Greek soil?

Many mosaics were found intact and have been removed from their original sites to display in the museum and, of course, to preserve them.


The workmanship and artistry displayed in these mosaics that are more than 2,000 years old is amazing.

The museum also has displays of ceramics and glass that were found on site.

One relic far too big for the museum is the amphitheatre...................

As the Arcadians left to return to the ship there was time for some last, lingering looks at Ancient Corinth through the branches of some olive trees.

I hope you enjoyed your photographic tour of Ancient Corinth.................

Roy and Pat Upton send greetings to their friends Harold and Margaret who are sailing on AZURA's Maiden Voyage on the 12 April 2010. My thanks to Harold and Margaret for following this blog for the Round World Cruise.

Peter and Diana Piper just love my blog and wish to say hello to their three children - Paul, Mark and Kirsty. Diana just loves the fact that her family can keep up with their movements on this Round World Cruise!

Heather Jenkins says her son John in Swansea is an avid follower also!

Don and Meryl Powell from Porthcawl say Hi to Joanne and family in Chesham.

And finally Eileen Mann says 'hello' to her Mother in Law, Edith who is enjoying following her son's travels on Arcadia. James also says 'Hi' to Edith!!

We may be coming to the end of the World Cruise but there is still a great deal going on. Yesterday afternoon The Palladium Theatre was packed to capacity for the 'Arcadia Dancing' Competition. The Celebrity Judge was Lionel Blair no less! The winners were Deputy Cruise Director Lizzie Tather and her dance partner Lourdio Coutinho - they performed a sizzling Salsa - that had everyone exhausted just looking at it! After Dinner I was back in The Palladium to another packed house to enjoy a fantastic performance from West End Singer - Petrina Johnson. Cruise Director Sally Sagoe runs an action packed programme - where does she get her energy from? The Dance competition was inter departmental - a huge success and the participants practised for weeks just for the one matinee performance.

I am busy getting ready to hand over to Patrick Harrison - Executive Purser who will be joining on the 15 April 2010.

Bye for Now,

James.

And now these three remain 'Faith, Hope and Love'. But the greatest of these is Love.

1 Corinthians 13 v 13.