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How did the Corinth Canal shorten the route between the Aegean and Ionian seas?

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View of Utrecht's Oude Gracht canal lined with historic brick buildings, arched doorways at water level, and boats moored along the canal edge in the Netherlands. — canals and inland waterways The *Oudegracht* (Old Canal), Utrecht, Netherlands.

The Corinth Canal shortens the maritime route between the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea by cutting directly across the Isthmus of Corinth, which connects the Peloponnese to mainland Greece.12

Before the canal opened in 1893, vessels traveling between these two bodies of water were forced to navigate around the Peloponnese peninsula. By providing a direct 6.3-km (3.9-mile) waterway between the Gulf of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf, the canal significantly reduces travel distance. Specifically, it shortens the journey from the Adriatic Sea to Athens’ port, Piraeus, by more than 200 miles (320 km).12