Ancient meets modern in Corinth (Korinthos), a town that is considered the gateway to the Peloponnese Peninsula. During Roman times, it was one of the largest and wealthiest city-states in Greece, with two major ports: one on the Corinthian Gulf and one on the Saronic Gulf.

Ancient Corinth was an important city-state of ancient Greece. It controlled an area that corresponded to the east of today’s prefecture of Corinthia and to the northeast of the prefecture of Argolis. Ancient Corinth controlled the critical position of the Isthmus and was the most important commercial hub of the ancient world, until it was threatened by Athens. Corinth was considered the richest city in the ancient world.

The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects the Saronic Sea with the Gulf of Corinth, at the location of the Isthmus of Corinth, a little east of the city of Corinth. It was built between the years 1880-1893, it is 6,346 m long, 24.6 m wide at the sea surface, 21.3 m at the bottom, while its depth varies from 7.50 to 8 m. The Isthmus of Corinth was in the past a strategic point and for this reason a wall had been built since ancient times, which was preserved until Byzantine times (Hexamilion). Between the wall and the precinct was the diolkos, a road through which goods and small ships were transported to avoid the circumnavigation of the Peloponnese.