Day 13 – Thursday, May 19: Corinth, Mycenae, Athens, Plaka
Today we drove south to the Peloponnese of Greece. The weather started overcast and much cooler, with a strong wind today. But sunny skies prevailed by mid-morning! We read from 1 Corinthians 3 as we left the hotel at 8 a.m.
Corinthian Canal
After another great breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the rooftop, we departed about 8 a.m. We drove south to the Peloponnese of Greece. First we stopped at the famous Corinthian Canel. It was built over a 11 year span (1882-1893) and is 3.8 miles long, 85 feet wide, 300 feet deep, with the water level around 26 feet.
Ancient Corinth
We then drove another 15 minutes to the ancient site of ancient Corinth. This huge city (400 – 500,000 at its peak) was the once glorious city near the Isthmus where Paul met Aquila and Priscilla and spent a year and a half preaching the Word of God. Among the ruins we saw the Temple of Apollo (one of 14 total pagan temples), the forum (agora in Greek), and the bema (judgement seat). During Paul’s stay here during his 2nd mission journey, he wrote letters to the Thessalonica church. During his brief stay here at the end of his 3rd mission journey, we wrote Romans. It was delivered by Phoebe (Romans 16). We read from Acts 18 about Gallio and 2 Corinthians 4. We also walked down to the area of the theater where we saw the Erastus Inscription (he donated his own money for the public works, see Romans 16:23). Before leaving Corinth we drove to the Acropolis for a peak of the Temple of Aphrodite and a spectacular view of the plain of Corinth below.
“The southern area of Greece is just as pretty as the northern parts. We drove to Corinth today and the mix of high mountains and the blue-green sea made for a beautiful combination! To top it off, the Apostle Paul was here too!”
Mycenae
From here we drove to Mycenae. We first enjoyed a late lunch here before visiting the ruins of this ancient city. Much of what we saw dates from 1,350 – 1,200 BC. At the site we saw the famous Lion’s Gate (1,250 BC), the shaft tombs (where over 13 pounds of gold was found in the 1870s excavations), the palace area, and the cistern. We also saw the Bee Hive tomb of King Agamemnon (or the Treasury of Atreus). We enjoyed singing in the tomb. 🙂
Leaving Mycenae at about 5 p.m., we returned back to our hotel in Athens. We past Cenchreae (Acts 18) on the way. Upon returning to the hotel, many walked together to the Plaka for a fun time of browsing, shopping, and eating. We walked back on our own to end the evening!
Day 14 – Friday, May 20, Day Cruise to Hydra, Aegina, and Poros
