"sun, bright, shiny","land of light"
ELEUSIS & ANCIENT CORINTH EXTENDED TOUR
[Duration : appr. 6 hrs] Request Form
(CITY OF ELEFSIS, ELEFSIS MUSEUM, CORINTH CANAL, RUINS OF THE CITY OF ANCIENT CORINTH, TEMPLE OF APOLLO, MUSEUM OF ANCIENT CORINTH, LUNCH).
Elefsis & Ancient Corinth Extended Tour Details
In this tour we follow the National Highway till we reach the holiest place of the ancient world Eleusina, the place where the Eleusinian Mysteries took place, the most important religious feast of the ancient world. There in the Thriassic plain, Goddess Demeter herself taught men to cultivate wheat and barley. Worship of Demeter “Mother Earth” who brought life from the soil, governed all creation and Persephone her daughter who symbolized spring and rebirth begun at 15th c. B.C. If you’d been initiated to the Mysteries at least twice you gained admission to the Elysian Fields, to the Isles of the Blessed and the ranks of Immortals. Cicero wrote:” The greatest gift of Athens to mankind and the holiest is the Eleusinian Mysteries”. Today, Eleusis is an industrial area used for the import and refinement of crude oil.
Afterwards, we can see a small Museum of six rooms hosting some findings of the past glory; Marble sarcophagus of Roman Times, Protoattic amphora, Headless statue of the goddess Demeter, Headless statue of Asklepios, statue of a Kore, marble statues of Roman emperors, e.t.c.
Continuing along the National Highway we reach the Corinth Canal or else Isthmus completed in 1893 – 6 km length, 25m width, 8m depth- which connects the Aegean with the Ionian Sea. Our 15’ stop there gives us the opportunity to take some marvelous pictures and then continue our route until we reach the Ruins of the city of Ancient Corinth.
You can see the long rocky wall of Acrocorinth leading to Lechaion (artificial harbor of the Corinthian Gulf) where the road leading to Ancient Agora starts. The Temple of Apollo (6th c. B.C.-restored 1st c. AD) is the only Greek monument standing, as all others are mainly Roman.
Another interesting spot to see is the museum of Acrocorinth which hosts many objects and findings like the head of Goddess Tyche (Luck), the Bema where Saint Paul preached, and the fountain of Glauke.
In the end we enjoy a nice meal at a traditional restaurant, before we take our way back to Athens.
