Ancient Diolkos

Before there was a canal there was the Diolkos, a paved road built around 600 BC on which boats were dragged on wheeled cradles from the Corinthian Gulf to the Saronic, saving the long and dangerous sail around the Peloponnese. The surface is limestone slabs with two parallel grooves cut into them, the track gauge of the cradles, and stretches of it survive at the canal's western end, some on land and some now under water. It stayed in use for perhaps a thousand years, and Corinth's wealth rested partly on the tolls. Parts of the exposed track have been damaged by wash from canal traffic and by erosion, and a long-running conservation effort has fenced and stabilised sections.

What you actually see

• The grooved slabs - the paved track with its cut wheel-ruts.
• The canal mouth - modern shipping passing where boats once rolled.
• The submerged stretch - track continuing into shallow water.
• The conservation works - fencing and stabilisation of the surviving surface.

When to go

Any season; this is an open roadside site with no shade and little shelter. Morning light rakes across the grooves and shows them best.

Honest expectations

What survives is a stretch of stone paving in a scruffy setting beside a working canal, with a military area nearby restricting access on one side. Signage is poor and the site is easy to find underwhelming without knowing the story.

Nearby

The Corinth Canal bridges are minutes away; Ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth lie southwest.