Byzantine on top of Roman on top of Greek for centuries, and there are very few informational signs. I hypothesized that it might be a racket by the travel guides so as not to make their services moot, but the ones we overheard were only going through the basics about temples and stoa, and since my focus is exclusively ancient Greek, any time spent on a basilica is like trying to explain to the Greeks why the Turks used the Parthenon to store gun powder. Please, just stop. I don't want to hear it.
So, this is a Roman road, leading to the old propylea and flanked by market stalls, basilicas, shrines, baths, mattress stores... There was a little of everything here for everyone.
The rest of the site is a loose accumulation of stoa and spare parts beneath the retrofits from new occupants.
This was originally a stoa (a colonnade of approximately 100m) where the near column spaces were filled with smaller stones to make a wall.
Another stoa (colonnade on right) where the 31 left side Greek "apartments" (identical 2 room housing with an indoor well for craftsmen and artisans) were converted into various Roman and then Byzantine structures (see next photo).
The Bema of St. Paul.
Yes, this is the Corinth of Corinthians! I see this is as another flagrant use of marble to fill the missing stones (the ultra white is the filler). And while I am now nominally intrigued to reread those chapters, I came to see this:
The Temple of Apollo. It looks a little like the Temple of Zeus at Nemea, but not as well preserved, although it has not changed since at least 1909 when it was first photographed with several nimwits standing on the peristyles! But given the reuse of stones in and reallocation of land to subsequent structures, there is no realistic way to reconstruct this temple, unlike Nemea. How would you decide which ruin had priority? Do you remove the Byzantine architecture to reinstate the ancient Greek? It is just a quandary, which makes this site all the more inscrutable and, for me, sad. This is as good as it is going to get, and it is a mess. So, while I am glad finally to have seen the site at Korinthos (we had to take a detour due to a road rally the first time, and ended up at another Heraeon), I don't think I can ever come back here.
Hmm.. sad that it is such a mess but this pic of the temple of Apollo is wonderful! The perfectly blue skies and the clouds - it's breathtaking! Thanks for sharing!
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