The Peloponnese

The Peloponnese is a mountainous geographic region of southern Greece. It is a huge chunk of land the is connected to the north of Greece by Rio-Anti Rio suspension bridge (an awesome piece of engineering and the largest bridge of its kind in the world) across the western mouth of the Gulf of Corinth. This connection to the mainland is near Patras, the second largest port in Greece.

The man-made connection of the Rio-Anti Rio Bridge is balanced at the opposite end of the Gulf of Corinth by the also man made Corinth Canal. Instead of joining the Peloponnese to northern Greece, the Corinth Canal actually separated the south from the north effectively making an island out of the Peloponnese.

The Peloponnese is also well know for the Peloponnesian Wars (circia 400 BC) between the Athenians and the mighty Spartans (of the movie 300 fame among others). The south of the Peloponnese is home to Sparta, the heart of the Spartan empire.

Contiki tours driving through Greece on the way to or from Athens will often drive along the north of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and the Gulf of Corinth stopping at the Corinth Canal.