A Resource for the Study of the Corinthia, Greece
Last day of my whirlwind tour in the Corinthia. I’ve continued meeting and running into old archaeology friends from Isthmia and Corinth, talking with local friends about the feasibility of a visit with students next year, and taking lots of pictures. This one comes from my morning run around the village of Ancient Corinth.
I always request a window seat when I fly in and out of Athens International Airpot on the hope of capturing good images of the Corinthia. Photographer and archaeologist Jacquelyn Clements shared with me the image below from her flight in December 2013 (and kindly gave permission to share on this site). The beautiful photo clearly shows the constricting neck that defined the Isthmus in antiquity. The ancients, of course, never had this particular aerial perspective of the Corinthian Isthmus but they did have a bird’s eye view from Mt. Gerania, Oneion, and Acrocorinth, as well as the practical experiences of coastal navigation. Until the later Hellenistic era, most Greek writers conceived of the Isthmus as the zone of greatest constriction between Akra Sousaki and Akra Sophia on the Saronic Gulf, and Loutraki and New Corinth on the Corinthian Gulf–the landscape shown in the photo below.
The Library of Congress continues to build its collections of prints and photographs with a few Corinthian ones among them. I love this old stereo card print from 1906 showing the Corinth canal, opened little more than a decade earlier on July 25, 1893.
Metadata from the Library of Congress:
Title: An old dream realized at last, ship-canal through isthmus, E.S.E. Corinth, Greece
Summary: Man standing on bridge above canal in foregrd.
Created / Published: c1906.
Notes:
– Stereo copyrighted by Underwood & Underwood.
– No. (36) 9305.- This record contains unverified, old data from caption card.
– Caption card tracings: Canals…; Greece Corinth; Photog. I.; Shelf.
Last week, Getty Images announced that millions of its creative and high-quality images can be freely used on blogs, websites, twitter, and other social media through the image’s embed code. This is not quite the same as permission to download and use in, say, presentations and lectures but this is still a plus for anyone who creates blogs or dynamic websites and needs stock photos.
Embed from Getty ImagesA search by the keyword “Greece” returns 35,882 images, “Corinth” 144 images, “Mycenae” 73, “Athens” 6121, “Naxos” 266, etc…
Embedding the image is easy as these instructions indicate.
I played around with this for a few minutes and selected some samples. This is how they appear after copying the embed codes into Live Writer.
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images
Where enabled, you may embed Getty Images Content on a website, blog or social media platform using the embedded viewer (the “Embedded Viewer”). Not all Getty Images Content will be available for embedded use, and availability may change without notice. Getty Images reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove Getty Images Content from the Embedded Viewer. Upon request, you agree to take prompt action to stop using the Embedded Viewer and/or Getty Images Content. You may only use embedded Getty Images Content for editorial purposes (meaning relating to events that are newsworthy or of public interest). Embedded Getty Images Content may not be used: (a) for any commercial purpose (for example, in advertising, promotions or merchandising) or to suggest endorsement or sponsorship; (b) in violation of any stated restriction; (c) in a defamatory, pornographic or otherwise unlawful manner; or (d) outside of the context of the Embedded Viewer.
Planning a trip to the Corinthia soon? The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports has been slowly adding data since 2012 related to the major sites of the Corinthia through their ODYSSEUS Portal. Posted information includes access and hours, ticket pricing, student discounts, amenities, suggested bibliography, among others. Mind you, hours and times are subject to change, but the information will at least get you in the ballpark.
There’s a small collection of images associated with the site pages. Check out this beautiful aerial photo of Lechaion harbor from the Lechaion Port page.
I have added these links to a new sidebar titled “Corinthian Sites – Hours and Access”.
Caveats added Feb. 27 from G. Sanders’ comments on the Corinthian Studies Facebook page: If you’ve been to Corinth before, don’t count on the old way of getting there. The bridge was just removed at the exit to (ancient) Corinth to widen the Athens-Patras highway. If you stay on the highway to Patras, you’ll have to double back at Kiato. To arrive at Corinth, exit at the Isthmus, or take the exit to New Corinth (the first exit after the Isthmus). If you exit to new Corinth, turn left and then make a hard right, or make a right and then left past the train station.
Re: hours. New guards are being hired and the site will be open 8 AM to 8 PM during summer months.
Friends at FB have posted or sent me links to several facebook pages and albums devoted to photos, postcards, and images of Greece from the late 19th / early 20th century. Theodoros Metallinos has posted hundreds of fascinating images in these albums, and this photos page at Istoria Eiknographia (PERIODIKO) also displays hundreds of old photos.
Some great early photos of Corinth, the Isthmus, and Canal among them….
Construction of Corinth canal, 1882 (from this page)
Construction of canal, 1884 (from this page)
Construction of the canal, 1886, photograph of Αναστασίου Γαζιάδη
This one of the functioning canal from 1902 (from this page )
Canal, 1935 (from this page)
German on the Isthmus, 1943 (from this page)
Couldn’t find a tag for this one at the canal.
Corinth, 1922 (from this page)
I repost below some stories, videos, and news related to the archaeology and history of the Corinth since spring. Some will be old news but may be of use for those who have missed the stories.
News and Announcements from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Blogosphere on Archaeology in the Corinthia
A frequent sort of blog that regularly appear in my google alerts are travel accounts of visits to Ancient Corinth. Most of these cover familiar ground and are most useful for good photos of Corinth, the Corinthian landscape, and the archaeological remains. Here is a sample of summer entries:
Corinthian Matters 