THE CORINTH CANAL - The deepest canal in the world - PELOPONESE | GREECE
The Corinth Canal is a shipping canal in Greece connecting the Aegean Sea (Saronic Gulf) with the Ionian Sea (Gulf of Corinth). This canal crosses the Isthmus of Corinth for a distance of 6.5 km, thus separating the Peloponnese peninsula from the mainland of Greece, making it an island, connected to the mainland by six bridges.
The idea to dig the Corinthian isthmus dates back to the 7th century BCE, when the ruler of Corinth ordered the canal to be excavated. Unfortunately, the project exceeded the capabilities of even such a wealthy city as ancient Corinth. The idea of ​​digging the canal came back many times, but without success. It was only in 1881 that the French returned to the idea, mainly due to the Suez Canal, which brought huge profits. Unfortunately, the company that undertook it miscalculated the costs and went bankrupt, and the investment was completed in 1893 by the Greeks.
The Corinth Canal is the deepest canal in the world; its almost vertical walls with a height of up to 90 meters are really impressive . In October 2019, a record was broken here - the cruise ship BREAMAR sailed, or precisely squeezed through the canal.
The 22.5 m wide and 196 m long ship crossed the Isthmus of Corinth, whose maximum width above the water surface is only 24 m, which gives us only 75 centimeters of distance from the canal walls in the narrowest places. It was quite a challenge, but it ended successfully, in general, 11,000 people pass through the canal. units per year.
For all those who like adrenaline, on the Corinth Canal, bungee jumping takes place with the Zulu Bungy centre. It is a really good offer at the price of EUR 80 per jump and recording in a truly amazing scenery.
In the close vicinity of the Corinthian Canal there are the cities of New Corinth and Ancient Corinth with the Acrocorinth Fortress towering over the ancient city. Nearby, there is also the tourist town of Loutraki with its thermal springs, waterfalls and the oldest casino in Greece.