Day 9 – Monday, July 8: Corinth, Mycenae, Cenchrea, Athens
Today we disembarked from the cruise ship at 7:5 a.m. following breakfast. It was a great 3-day cruise! We met the smiling faces of Aliki and George at the Laurion port of Athens. The weather was still sunny, but with warmer temps in the high 90s. We read from Titus 3 and 1 Corinthians 3 as we left the port.
Corinthian Canal
Directly from the port we drove south to the Peloponnese of Greece. It took 1:45 hours. First we stopped at the famous Corinthian Canel. It was built over a 11 year span (1882-1893) and is 3.8 miles long, 75-85 feet wide (the width varies at each ends), 280 feet deep, with the water level around 26 feet. It is really a quite incredible engineering feat!
Ancient Corinth
We then traveled another 20 minutes to the ancient site of ancient Corinth. We first visited the archaeological site. We began in the small museum. Here, we saw an image of the Menorah and many clay sculptures of the body parts represented (dedicated to Asclepius, also see 1 Corinthians 12). Among the ruins we saw the Temple of Apollo (one of 14 total pagan temples), the forum (agora in Greek), and the bema (or judgement seat) where Paul shared his defense/testimony before Galllio, (see Acts 18). Paul was here for a year and a half during his 2nd mission journey. From here he wrote letters to the Thessalonica church in the north. During his brief stay here at the end of his 3rd mission journey, we wrote Romans. It was delivered by Phoebe (Romans 16). After lunch (gyros!), we walked down to the area of the theater where we saw the important Erastus Inscription (he donated his own money for the public works, see Romans 16:23).
Before leaving the area of Corinth, we drove up to the Acropolis for a peak of the Temple of Aphrodite and a spectacular view of the plain of Corinth 1800 feet below. The massive walls and gates date from between the the time of the Crusaders, Ottomans, and Venetians.
Mycenae
From here we drove about 30 minutes to Mycenae. Much of what we saw dates from 1,350 – 1,200 BC. After eating lunch at a local restaurant in modern Mycenae, we visited the site. We walked under the famous Lion’s Gate (1,200 BC). We also saw the shaft tombs (where over 30 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 the Doxology in the tomb.
Cenchrea
Leaving Mycenae, we started our way back to our hotel in Athens for a late dinner. But before leaving the area of Corinth we made a brief stop at Cenchreae (Acts 18) on the way. This was the harbor Paul used to sail to Ephesus and eventually back to Caesarea. Here Paul cut his hair because of the Nazarite vow he had made (Numbers 6:18). Phoebe also served the church established here (Romans 16:1).
We drove back to the hotel, arriving for dinner at 7 p.m.
“We disembarked from the cruise ship today and traveled south into the Peloponnese. This region is where both Corinth and Mycenae are located. On the way back to Athens we also visited Cenchrea. We topped off the day with a hike up to the top of Mt. Lycabetus”

Lycabetus
Following dinner at the hotel, some of us walked to the top of Lycabetus. This is the highest hill around Athens. The view was a incredible from here since the top provides a panoramic view of all of Athens. This includes seeing the Acropolis and the port of Piraeus!
We all walked back to the hotel and back to our rooms to retire for the evening.
Day 10 – Tuesday, July 9: Athens: Acropolis, Rock of Areopagus, City Tour, Constitution Square







