Corinth Pegae — The Sacred Spring Mysteries

Your journey begins at the Temple of Apollo in Corinth, a Doric edifice dating to 550 BC, with 7 columns, each 7 meters high, still standing. Dedicated to Apollo Phoebus, god of the sun and prophecy, this local limestone temple attests to the Corinthians' devotion. Its proximity to the Sacred Spring suggests, according to modern archaeologists, a shared oracular function, inviting you to seek the first clues to the mysteries of Pegai. This archaeological site, a protected Greek historical monument, is an essential anchor for understanding the ancient Hellenistic and Roman heritage of Corinth in the Peloponnese.

Nearby, the monumental Pirene Fountain, built as early as the 7th-6th centuries BC, awaits you. Pausanias himself described this fountain, named after the Nereid Pirene whose tears supposedly gave birth to the spring. Another Corinthian legend tells that Pegasus, the winged horse tamed by Bellerophon, drank there and struck the ground with his hoof, creating the source. This system of underground reservoirs, one of the most sophisticated in the ancient Agora, highlights Corinth's hydraulic ingenuity and the importance of ancient water sanctuaries for the city.

Heading towards the Roman Agora, rebuilt after 44 BC as Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis, you cross a space reorganized according to a Roman orthogonal plan. The Sacred Spring, a complex sanctuary from the 8th century BC with its triglyph and metope wall and mud-brick altar, was covered and integrated into this new Agora. Its visible remains today tell the story of the site's abandonment after Corinth's destruction in 146 BC and its Roman refoundation. The Northwest Shops, aligned along the Agora's northwest side, show how Roman commerce reinvested the sacred space.

Your journey then leads you to the ancient Theater of Corinth, built in the 5th-4th centuries BC and renovated under the Romans. With an original capacity of about 15,000 spectators, it hosted dramatic performances and gladiatorial games, offering insight into the city's cultural and political life. Higher up, on the Acrocorinth, the Temple of Aphrodite, erected in the 6th century BC, pays homage to Aphrodite Ourania and Pandemos. This Doric limestone temple, visible from the Agora, dominates the urban landscape and testifies to the cult that persisted there until the Byzantine era, enriching Corinth's Greek mythology.

By exploring these monuments of the archaeological Peloponnese, from the Archaeological Museum of Corinth, your starting point, to the remains of the Sacred Spring, you have followed in the footsteps of Pausanias and legends. You have discovered a Corinth well-supplied with water, as the poet Simonides of Ceos noted. This thematic circuit, which includes the 1988 UNESCO archaeological site, has allowed you to understand the history of Corinth, from its archaic Doric temples to its rebuilt Roman Agora, and to immerse yourself in the ancient Hellenistic and Roman heritage. It is an interactive visit that reveals the monuments of the Peloponnese and the mysteries of Pegasus and Bellerophon, a true exploration of history and ancient water sanctuaries.