By Jackie Sheckler Finch

The historic Corinth Canal is not a passage that all cruisers get to see. An unusual scenic ride through high limestone walls, the canal is not passable for larger ships so passengers who want to experience the canal will have to book passage on a smaller ship.

The much-photographed canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. The canal is only four miles long, 80 feet wide and 25 feet deep.

Long ago rulers had dreamed of cutting through the narrow isthmus but it was the Corinth tyrant Periander who was the first to try back in the 7^th century BC. His plan never worked out.

Instead, Periander devised a paved road with two parallel ruts over which ships could be dragged from one sea to the other by animals or people. You can still see remnants of that road next to the canal.

When the philosopher Apollonius of Tyana prophesied that great calamity would befall anyone who proposed to dig a Corinthian canal, you’d think that might have put a stop to it. It didn’t.

Three well-known historic figures decided to do it anyway. And Apollonius was right. They all came to violent ends.

Julius Caesar was making plans for a big dig when he was assassinated. His successor Caligula brought in some experts to discuss the build but he, too, was assassinated. Then the emperor Nero took his turn. He was actually the first to break ground and did it with his own hands and a pickaxe to move the first symbolic basket of dirt.

But remember that Nero didn’t come to a good end either. Declared an “enemy of the state,” Nero committed suicide before he could be captured and tortuously executed for his crimes. His canal plans were put aside but the modern canal that cruise ships use actually follows the route laid out by Nero.

Over the centuries, other plans were conceived and never finished.  A Greek company finally did the job and the Corinth Canal was officially opened July 1893.  Today, the canal is used mostly by smaller cruise ships whose delighted passengers stand on deck to witness the event.

Photo by Jackie Sheckler Finch