Harbor of Ancient Cenchreae

Shown here are the ruins of the harbor of ancient Cenchreae. On his second missionary tour, Paul apparently boarded a boat here and sailed to Ephesus. (Ac 18:18) Cenchreae lay about 11 km (7 mi) east of Corinth on the side of a narrow isthmus facing the Saronic Gulf. It was linked to Corinth by a chain of military fortifications. In the first century C.E., Cenchreae was Corinth’s port for points east of Greece, while Lechaeum, on the opposite side of the isthmus, served as Corinth’s port for Italy and other places west of Greece.