Pick up or meet you at meeting point and start driving to Corinth

The byzantine Monastery of Daphni lies to the west of Athens, almost half-way along the ancient Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis. According to Pausanias, in the same area there was an enclosed temple dedicated to Apollo, Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The monastery is protected by a massive square fortification with high walls, inside which looms the Katholicon (the main church), with a perimeter colonnade and cells for the monks adjacent to the south side of the church, forming a small churchyard. The Katholicon of the monastery dates back to the 11th century. the interior is decorated with high quality mosaics, on a gold background, marble revetments and sculpted decoration, from which very few examples are preserved nowadays.

Corinth Canal is an engineering marvel. A project that spanned many centuries, it was conceived by a ruler of Ancient Corinth, begun by Roman emperor Nero, and completed in the 19th century. Cut through solid rock, the canal is more than 6km long and 23m wide, its vertical sides rising 90m above the water. The canal did much to elevate Piraeus’ status as a major Mediterranean port and is particularly impressive when a ship is passing through

An ancient castle on a 575m high rock. At the foot of the hill is Ancient Corinth. The first phase in the history of the walls dates to the 7th-6th century BC, which was a time of prosperity for the city of Corinth. The next important phase dates to the 4th or the first half of the 3rd century; in 146 BC the walls were destroyed by the Roman. Justinian is believed to have carried out repair works in the 6th century, and substantial efforts at fortification were made in the Middle Byzantine period (8th-12th c.). The interior of the castle still contains the ruins of the temple of Aphrodite (5th-4th century BC), the spring of Ano Peirini, several Christian churches, a Byzantine underground cistern, mosques, fountains etc.

The site of ancient Corinth was first inhabited in the Neolithic period (6500-3250 B.C.). The city, known since the Mycenaean period, Homer refers to as afnios because of her especially fertile soil. The tremendous output of agricultural products, already in earlier historical periods, favored intense expansion in trade activities mainly towards the Western Mediterranean, while in the 8th century BC Corinthian colonies were founded, like Corfu in the Ionian Sea, Syracuse in Sicily. Its destruction by the Romans in 146 BC would also mark the end of the ancient Greek world, demonstrating the importance of the city. The reconstruction of the city in 44 BC by Julius Caesar and the arrival of the Apostle Paul, constitutes a new chapter in its history that would once again make it an important city. Then followed the difficult years of the raids of the Crusaders and the Venetiansand after 7 centuries of occupation by the Venetians and the Turks, Corinth was liberated.

Lunch

Driving 2 hours from Corinth to cape sounio.

Cape Sounion is where you'll find the world-renowned Temple of Poseidon. It sits perched above the blue waters and many claim this spot offers the most beautiful sunsets in all of Greece.

Driving back to Athens thru riviera