Nafplio and the Corinth Canal

Nafplio proved to be a favorite stop in Greece – a charming seaside resort with a compact old town and friendly pedestrian zones for strolling. It is a favorite summer and weekend haunt for Athenians. At this time of year it was very quiet. We were the only guests in our hotel – a small family run place just off of the promenade along the waterfront.

The only problem with Nafplio is that we did not have enough time! Because we arrived late, we only had the next morning to explore the city. We would like to come back and use it as a base for seeing areas of the surrounding Peloponnese.

Nafplio was the capital of Greece for one year – in the early 1820s the Ottoman Empire was defeated and King Otto arrived from Bavaria to rule the newly independent Greece. The new King was a student of classical Greece and wanted to revive Athens to its past glory. He moved the capital there one year after arriving in Greece. King Otto’s statue stands in a square in Nafplio on the site of his former palace.

What is amazing is to realize that Athens only had a population of 4,000 in 1833. Today it is over 5 million about half the population of the country (about 11 million). The Greek Diaspora has resulted in anywhere from 3 to 7 million people of Greek descent living outside the country. The number is contentious and depends on definitions. Three million people in the United States claim Greek descent according to a 2009 U.S. Department of State Study.

Nafplio is filled with restaurants along the waterfront and in the narrow lanes nearby – restaurant spill out into the streets with sidewalk tables under canopies in case of rain. We had dinner in a traditional Taverna and ate typical Greek dishes – we had Feta Cheese in everything I think – baked in foil with tomatoes and bell peppers – in salad – in appetizers, etc. Fortunately Feta is a favorite. For Philip – a salad is not a salad without Feta!

After our morning walking tour, we left for Athens. We stopped to see the Corinth Canal. This canal connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea. It was built between 1881 and 1893 – considered an engineering marvel for its time. We walked across a pedestrian bridge on either side of the main bridge to get the full impact of the canal – it is only 79 feet wide but it is 170 feet from the top to the surface of the water.


We returned our rental car to the airport and took a taxi to the apartment we had rented in Athens – thank goodness we did not attempt to return the car to a location in the City – Athens traffic makes Paris look simple!