BY THE ARCHAEOLOGIST EDITOR GROUP

The canal that Xerxes created in 480 BC in order to circumvent Mount Athos is now only visible from a considerable height between Nea Roda and Tripiti. It had a maximum depth of 15 m, a maximum width of 30 m, and a length of around two kilometers. In a survey conducted in 2008 by archaeologists and other scientists, its precise position and proportions were established. Further archaeological investigations revealed that following Xerxes' usage of it, it was never again used, and over time it was abandoned and filled up.

One of the biggest technological achievements of antiquity is the Canal of Xerxes, which is located near Halkidiki. Herodotus claims that during the Medieval Wars, particularly in 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes intended to take his massive fleet from Akantho to Thermi (then known as Thessaloniki), but avoided the perilous circumnavigation of Athon’s peninsula. And the reason for this is that he wished to prevent what happened to Mardonius' fleet a decade earlier, which was its destruction. In order to link the bay of Ierissos with the Gulf of Sigitikos, which was home to the already Persianized cities of Assa, Pylorus, Sigos, and Sarti, Xerxes gave the order to open the canal, which ran from what is now Nea Roda to Trypiti.

Disputations involving the canal

The canal was mentioned by both the renowned ancient historians Thucydides and Herodotus, who did in fact describe the canal's size in some detail. Despite this, historians in the recent and distant past have disagreed about the canal.

Demetrius Scypsios' contention that a diolcus existed here was the source of the most fundamental disagreement. He did this after observing that one end of the ancient canal had hard rock at it that made excavation at the time of opening impossible.

In general, some other authors agreed with the diolcus idea, much as it did in ancient Corinth. According to Herodotus' account, Xerxes gave Artachaei and Bouvaro the important technical work.

With an estimated height of about 2.5 meters and a stentorian voice, the fierce Achaemenid Artachaeus outclassed all Persians in stature. But just before the canal was completed, he became very ill and passed away, which Xerxes interpreted as a bad portent. In Akantho, Artahais was buried amid tremendous ceremony.

The canal is now underground. With the exception of a little valley in the middle of the isthmus, the area between the villages of Nea Roda and Trypiti has no similarity to the original huge edifice.

The canal's characteristics

The canal is 30 meters wide and 2 kilometers long. Estimates place its maximum depth at 15 meters. Due to subsidence at the site, it can be seen from a large distance.

British and Greek engineers conducted research in 2008 that demonstrated its precise position and dimensions and refuted the bilocus notion.

Investigations were conducted in the area, including the execution of geophysical surveys, drilling with sedimentological examination of their samples, and topographic mapping of the canal, particularly on the initiative of the British School of Archaeology.

The results of the seismic tomography and high-definition seismic reflection geophysical surveys provided detailed descriptions of the morphology and dimensions of the underground channel.

The lack of building remnants nearby indicates that the canal was abandoned after it was opened, according to the evidence. The entire plan of Xerxes appears to have been an effort to dazzle and demonstrate strength to the people of Halkidiki at the time.

Ioulia Vokotopoulou, an archaeologist, claims that the canal was not only opened but actively utilized. At the Isthmus's narrowest point, a sizable ditch may be observed in some spots despite its natural embankment. After all, the beginning of the canal on the Nea Rodi beach is known as Provlakas. There in the sea are ancient fortifications.