We had a very early start today since our tour leader wanted us ready to go by 6:30am! It turned out that we could not get off the ship until 7:00 am so that very early alarm clock was for naught. I did doze off a bit on the bus, and that helped.
Our bus ride took us first to the Corinth Canal for a short stop before proceeding on to the excavation at the old city of Corinth. It was amazing to see how deep they had to dig to build this canal between the Ionian and Adriatic seas. It took 12 years (1881 - 1893) using dynamite and steam power. Unfortunately it was an economic failure for a variety of reasons and never lived up to its potential.
This was our second visit to the the excavation at Corinth. Our guide did a good job of explaining the secular history of the place, but the real treat was hearing Dr Maier, lower left photo, speak about the significance of events that happened here. During Paul's ministry in this city, some prominent Jews hauled him before the Roman leader, Gallio, concerning Paul's teachings. Gallio threw the case out of court as "not being a matter for Rome to decide". This was the first time Christianity was put on trial and Dr. Maier asserted that if it had gone against Paul, the ability of the Christian Church to survive would have been in question. Dr Maier went to elaborate on how this trial was noted in a letter to Gallio from a fellow Roman leader which allowed archeologists to date this event in the 51/52 AD timeframe. Using this as a baseline permits all of Paul's Missionary journeys to be accurately dated. The place where this trial took place is pictured in the bottom right.
After leaving Corinth, we headed to Athens to visit the Acropolis. However, on the way there, thunderstorms and heavy rain came down forcing a change in plans. We went to the Acropolis Museum instead. While this was interesting and gave a good (if distant) view of the Parthenon, it was a bit too much Greek history for me.
Tomorrow we enjoy our last sea day before heading to Naples to visit Pompeii.
This was our second visit to the the excavation at Corinth. Our guide did a good job of explaining the secular history of the place, but the real treat was hearing Dr Maier, lower left photo, speak about the significance of events that happened here. During Paul's ministry in this city, some prominent Jews hauled him before the Roman leader, Gallio, concerning Paul's teachings. Gallio threw the case out of court as "not being a matter for Rome to decide". This was the first time Christianity was put on trial and Dr. Maier asserted that if it had gone against Paul, the ability of the Christian Church to survive would have been in question. Dr Maier went to elaborate on how this trial was noted in a letter to Gallio from a fellow Roman leader which allowed archeologists to date this event in the 51/52 AD timeframe. Using this as a baseline permits all of Paul's Missionary journeys to be accurately dated. The place where this trial took place is pictured in the bottom right.
Tomorrow we enjoy our last sea day before heading to Naples to visit Pompeii.
1 comment:
Thanks again for the blog , sorry it rained for you both changing plans . Enjoy the rest of your holiday . Pat
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