Acrocorinth, Medieval fortress at Ancient Corinth, Greece
Acrocorinth is a fortress on a 575-metre rock above Corinth, entered from the west by a single uphill path. Its walls stand in three levels: a lower gate, a second gate about 100 metres further up, and the summit circuit with towers. Inside are ruins of towers, cisterns, tunnels and the chapel of the Prophet Elias.
The fortress changed hands repeatedly from the 6th century BC until 1821, controlled in turn by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Franks, Venetians, and Ottomans. Each ruler left their mark on the structure and fortifications of the site.
The summit held a temple of Aphrodite, later turned into a church and then a mosque. The Upper Pirene spring inside the walls was, by legend, given to Sisyphus by Asopus as payment for revealing where Zeus had hidden Aegina. A cannon bearing the date 1670 survives from the last Venetian occupation under Francesco Morosini.
The climb to the fortress is steep, so visitors should wear sturdy shoes and allow plenty of time for exploration. The paths are sometimes marked, though some areas are uneven and require careful footing.
An underground spring called Peirene flowed within the fortress walls and supplied fresh water to its inhabitants. This natural water source was a key reason why the stronghold proved so difficult to capture over the centuries.
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