Today was an all day sightseeing trip to Corinth. It was an amazing adventure to say the least. We left early, at 8 to hop on a bus with our tour guide, Sophia, an archaeologist from Greece. The ride to the Corinth canal took about an hour. We stopped to look at narrowest part of the 63 km long canal first.
Part of the Corinth Canal
Our next stop was at the end of the canal on the north side in the modern part of Corinth.
This paved road was the original way across the Isthmus.
They would strip the ship to make it light and drag it to the other side, 63km away.
We were lucky enough to see the bridge open. The yellow and black road is for cars.
Instead of going up, like draw bridges in the states, this road sinks.
We then started the bus ride to halfway up this mountain. If you look at the top you can see a castle. It was a protective place for the people of Corinth. A high point in the city, both for protection and to worship Aphrodite. It has been conquered many times since it first started to be built in around 300 BC.
See how tall the mountain is?
This is the start of the first of three protective gates up into the castle.
This, needs to be our next album cover!!
This will show you how high we were. It was quite a hike up to the top, but we all made it!
A couple of cool group shots at the top!
Ancient air conditioning room!
And now, the section pics:
The Trombones
The Trumpets
The Rhythm Section
The Saxophone Section
And then the trip back to the bus!
Our view
Table #1 (and wow, that fresh squeezed orange juice amazing!!
Table #2
Then the tour of the ancient city began.
This is Sophia, our guide.
Everyone in front of the Temple of Apollo
A mosaic found at the site.
Listening to more stories from Sophia.
This is EXACTLY where Paul (from the Bible) stood.
This is "place of judgement" in Corinth.
It's not often you have an exact place where someone walked or stood, but
Paul stood right here. (see the quote from Acts in the Bible below.
He also wrote Romans and the Thessalonians while he was in Corinth.
In Corinth
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them off. 17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.
This is a roman well. It supplies the bath, and the bathrooms as well
as the drinking water for the town.
More of this amazing ancient city.
Then it was back to the church for dinner:
And then a refugee from Syria told us his amazing story and he talked about what we were going to see when we get the refugee camps.
These are just two more pictures of this amazing city!
Tomorrow, Sophia takes us through the Acropolis Museum, the Acropolis and Mars Hill.
Then we go to perform in another neighborhood in the city in the evening.
Quote of the day: Eli was dared to ask Sophia "Why did the Romans build all of these ruins here?"
Running joke so far...."you know, the first hamburger was fried in Greece (grease)?"
Good night and thanks for following us,
The Baylor Jazz Ensemble
Tyler's Mom
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing day, so much history! Thank you so much for narrating and for the pictures. Safe travels and many blessing.