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Akrocorinthos 85 pictures 2.30 minutes HQ video The site is located 8 km south-west of a modern town by the same name. The Akrokorinthos, housing the famous temple of Aphrodite, is enclosed by triple fortified walls that bear ample witness to successive Greek, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian and Ottoman repairs. At the temple, about a thousand priestesses engaged in hierogamy or sacred prostitution, demanding huge sums from the "pilgrims" who had to tediously climb up the long, steep slope to avail themselves of the privilege. Who knows if it is the great amount of effort involved in the climb that these ancient "sex tourists" had to go through or the high cost of the services that lies at the origins of the Latin proverb "Only few may venture to Corinth"! Halfway down the hill are the remains of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, built on terraces and fitted with rows of seats cut as steps into the rock. These graded seats were used to accommodate the congregation assembled for the ritual celebration of the mysteries. The rock is 575 meters high, and the circuit of the walls totals almost 3,000 meters, enclosing an area approximately 240,000 m, spreading over three stepped terraces. There is evidence that it functioned as early as the 7^th century B.C. The Site Back to Greece Index