Diolkos

The Diolkos, an engineering marvel of ancient Greece, was a stone-paved road about 6 km long and 3-4 meters wide that crossed the Isthmus of Corinth. It was built from large stone slabs, and in the center there were two recesses for wheels, somewhat resembling train tracks, along which slaves rolled platforms with small ships or carts with cargo. The Diolkos connected the two ports of Kenchreai and Lechae, making the transport of ships across the isthmus a much faster and safer process. The structure was built in the 6th century BC and was used for over a thousand years until the Byzantine era. Although technically light military and merchant ships could be moved along the Diolkos, in practice it was more often used to transport cargo, which was transferred to carts pulled by slaves and animals. The Diolkos was significantly improved under Pericles, which brought Corinth enormous revenues and allowed it to abolish all taxes in the city itself. Road slabs were reinforced, harbors were built on both sides of the isthmus, and transportation fees were introduced. Control over this strategic route made Corinth one of the most important trading centers in the Mediterranean. In ancient times, navigation was mainly coastal and heavily dependent on the weather. An alternative route between the Ionian and Aegean Seas ran around Cape Malea in the south of the Peloponnese, a place notorious for sudden storms and strong winds. In ancient times, this route was considered extremely dangerous, which is why the Diolkos remained for a long time the safest and fastest way to cross Greece from east to west and vice versa. Today, next to the ancient Diolkos road, runs the Corinth Canal, the modern incarnation of the same idea that the Corinthians implemented two and a half thousand years ago.