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Ancient Corinth Page Four

the north east encienteAcrocorinth sits up on a very steep, sheer rock and is still mostly enclosed by 2km of wall. Open daily summer 8am-7pm;winter Tues-Sun *:30am-2pm;free. This is the ancient acropolis of Corinth, which became one of the most powerful of Greece's medieval fortresses. It was besieged by successive invaders who saw it as the gate to the Morea (the old name for the Peloponnese). It takes a good hour to walk up to it (though the walk is only 4km), but there is a car road too. It is highly recommended, though. The remains are extensive, and especially the Turkish ones. The list of invaders who erected buildings up there include Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Frankish crusaders, Venetians and Turks.

At the beginning of the climb up you pass the fountain of Hatzi Mustafa, which has had carved crosses add to it. The outermost of the citadel's triple gates is mostly Turkish, the middle both Venetian and Frankish, and the inner Byzantine. There are parts of a bath house (Turkish), cisterns, discovery cageand Byzantine chapels. Hidden in the ground is the upper Peirene spring, with broad steps leading down to it. Have someone point the way. A 4th century BC arch is over the pool. Unfortunately, you can't drink the water that is still there. The Temple of Aphrodite (which doubled as a brothel in the old days, passed through other incarnations as a church, mosque and a belvedere.

The name 'Corinth' is pre-Greek and the area has been inhabited since 5,000 BC with neolithic finds from nearby caves dating to 80,000 BC. Left: The discovery cave in the Ermione Valley.

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