Corinth

Corinth (Greek Κόρινθος Kórinthos [ˈkɔrinθɔs] (f. sg.)) is a Greek city with over 30,000 inhabitants (2011) on the Isthmus of Corinth, i.e. the isthmus, an isthmus connecting the Peloponnese and the Greek mainland. To the west of this isthmus is the Gulf of Corinth. The ancient city of Corinth is located about 6 km southwest of the center of the present city. Corinth is the third largest city in the Peloponnese, after Patras and Kalamata, and was the administrative seat of the prefecture of Corinthia (Κορινθία Korinthía) until 2010. The city is surrounded by the coastal plain of Vocha to the west, the Gerania Mountains to the east, and the Oneia Mountains to the south. Earthquakes have repeatedly destroyed the city.

Corinth lies about 70 km west of Athens. The isthmus was crossed by ships in ancient times by towing them on ship's carts in prefabricated ruts across the rocky isthmus. The route for this is known as Diolkos. Since the end of the 19th century, however, the Corinth Canal has been located here.

History

On February 21, 1858, the old Corinth was destroyed by an earthquake, after which the new city was founded six kilometers to the northeast in the same year. After the planning had been completed, temporary barracks were first erected to house the authorities. In the following years, almost 400 houses were built, into which many inhabitants of Old Corinth moved after initial hesitation.

In 2010, the neighbouring municipalities of Assos-Lecheo, Saronikos, Solygia and Tenea were incorporated into Corinth; the area of the municipality was thus increased sixfold and the number of inhabitants almost doubled.

Infrastructure

While the importance of the Corinth Canal for shipping is now almost exclusively limited to tourism, its importance for land transport has increased. In the mid-1990s the motorway to the Peloponnese was expanded, since then there is also the motorway junction Corinth-West with the fork to Patras (A8) and Sparta/Tripolis A7.

Corinth was connected to the railway in 1885 with the metre-gauge railway line Piraeus-Patras. In 1886 the first section of the railway line Corinth-Kalamata went into operation. These narrow-gauge railways have since been closed down. Towards Athens, rail traffic was transferred to a standard-gauge new line running along the highway. This was extended westwards to Kiato in 2010 and is currently used by the Athens commuter railway. Construction is underway on an extension of the line to Patras. When that is completed, long-distance traffic is also to take place here.