The Hexamilion Wall

The Romans seem to have been quite fond of building walls, but did you know that as well as the famous Hadrian and Antonine walls which marked the Northern edge of the Roman empire, the Romans also built a defensive wall here in the Peloponnese? It was calle the Hexamillion.

The Romans seem to have been quite fond of building walls, but did you know that as well as the famous Hadrian and Antonine walls which marked the Northern edge of the Roman empire, the Romans also built a defensive wall here in the Peloponnese? The Hexamillion (6 mile wall) was originally built by Theodosius II who built his version between 408 and 450 AD to keep out the Barbarians. Over the 1000 years it was used as a military defence the wall was called on to protect the Peloponnese from many invaders including the Visigoths and the Ottomans. The original wall was improved, torn down, repaired and attacked many times, but the version we see today was mainly built in the Justinian era between 548 and 560 AD.

During its heyday the wall stretched along the Isthmus from the shores of the Saronic to the Gulf of Corinth, but today only a few scattered parts of it are left. The Justinian wall was 7.5 km long and a massive 3 m wide, and was reinforced at intervals with four-sided towers and a total of 153 turrets. The builders used whatever materials came to hand, including parts of the nearby ancient temples such as the Temple of Poseidon in Isthmia.

The wall played a major role in the 15th century when the Greeks repaired it in 1415 in an attempt to keep the Ottomans out. However, this repair work didn’t last long as the Turks tore the wall down in 1423 and again in 1431. Once again the Greeks repaired it, and once again Turks attacked it. Once the Ottoman Empire was established in 1460, the wall was abandoned.

The wall we can see today is a typical example of Justinian construction techniques as the remains of ancient structures were used as building materials along with bricks and small stones and strong mortar at the joints. Above all, the wall has transverse structures that helped to prevent collapse and also made it difficult to remove material from the "body" of the wall. The existing Hexamilion has 67 towers and the small fortress of Isthmia is joined to it.
 

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