Diolkos

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In the late 7th or early 6th century B.C., Periander (r. 627-585 BC), the tyrant of Corinth constructed a paved road called the Diolkos, which led from Schinous on the Saronic Gulf to Poseidonia on the Gulf of Corinth. The Diolkos was 3-3.5 m. wide, and it was paved with blocks of limestone set in a deep layer of sand and gravel. Along this ran the οlkos, a wheeled vehicle on which ships (covered with fat to slide more easily) were borne overland from one side of the Isthmus to the other. Sections of the Diolkos can still be seen today; the deep parallel ruts in the road, 1.50 m. apart, are the marks left by the wheels of the olkos.

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