Ancient Corinth and Its Museum

What it is

Corinth was one of the richest cities of ancient Greece: it controlled the two ports of the isthmus and the passage between the Peloponnese and the mainland. What you see today is 7 km from the modern city, at the foot of Acrocorinth. The first thing you recognise is the Temple of Apollo, from 560 BC, with seven monolithic Doric columns still standing. Around it, the Roman city that replaced it: the agora, the Peirene fountain, paved streets, shops and the tribunal, the bema, from which tradition says Saint Paul spoke to the Corinthians. Excavations began in 1896 and continue.

The museum

It is inside the site and included. It was built in 1932 by the American School of Classical Studies, which has excavated here from the start, and it covers the city from prehistory to Byzantium. What stands out most are the two kouroi of Tenea, archaic funerary statues of smiling youths, and the Corinthian mosaics and pottery. Allow half an hour.

Admission and opening hours

The ticket costs €15 (reduced, €8) and includes site and museum. In April it opens from 8:00 to 19:00; from May to August, until 20:00; in September and October closing time moves earlier every fortnight, down to 18:00. From November to March it opens from 8:30 to 15:30 and closes on Tuesdays. Last entry is 20 minutes before. It is free on 6 March, 18 April, 18 May, the last weekend of September, 28 October and the first and third Sunday of each month from November to March. It closes on 1 January, 25 March, 1 May, Easter Sunday and 25 and 26 December.

Getting there

By car, leave the motorway at Corinth and follow the signs for Archaia Korinthos. The village is small and there is room to park next to the entrance. Without a car, the suburban train drops you at Corinth and from there it is a taxi of about 10 minutes.