What Is Corinth Known For?

Corinth once controlled one of the most valuable trade routes in the ancient Mediterranean, and the canal built to bypass that old system now stands as the city's most recognizable modern landmark.

Corinth is known first for its canal, completed in 1893 after nearly two thousand years of failed attempts, including one started by the Roman emperor Nero around 67 AD and abandoned soon after. Before the canal existed, ships were physically dragged across the narrow isthmus on a stone trackway called the diolkos, built as early as the 7th century BC to avoid the dangerous sea route around the Peloponnese. That control over east-west trade made ancient Corinth extraordinarily wealthy, and at its Roman peak, the city held roughly 800,000 residents, outranking even Athens in prosperity at the time.

Corinth is equally known for its role in early Christianity, since the Apostle Paul lived and worked here for eighteen months as a tent-maker, alongside Priscilla and Aquila, before writing the letters that became the Books of Corinthians in the New Testament. Paul visited the city at least three times, and the site remains one of the most significant locations tied to his ministry anywhere in Greece.

The ancient city itself, destroyed in 146 BC and rebuilt a century later under Julius Caesar, still holds real archaeological weight today, with the Temple of Apollo, dating to around 550 BC, standing among the best preserved structures on site. Acrocorinth, the fortified acropolis rising above the ruins, served as a stronghold for centuries across Greek, Roman, and later medieval rule.

Corinth's own history as a commercial and religious center, situated between Athens and Nafplio, gives the region a depth that rewards a visit built around Corinth itself rather than treating it as a quick stop on a longer Peloponnese route.