The Isthmus of Corinth
Corinth, Isthmus of, a narrow neck of land, about 20 miles (32 km) long and 4 to 8 miles (6.4 to 13 km) wide, linking the Peloponnesus and central Greece. The Isthmian Games, one of the four great festivals of ancient Greece, were held here. The Corinth Canal, 4 miles (6.4 km) long, connects the Gulf of Corinth, an arm of the Ionian Sea, with the Saronic Gulf, an arm of the Aegean Sea. The canal, opened in 1893, is still an important shipping route, although it is only 72 feet (22 m) wide and thus cannot be used by large vessels.