Building the Corinth Canal

Garibaldi General and Hungarian Engineers in Greece

Jun 11, 2009

Hungarian General, István Türr, who fought alongside Garibaldi in Italy, won the concession to build the Corinth Canal in Greece in 1881.

The Corinth Canal, which cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth separating the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland and connecting the Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea, was built between 1882 and 1893. Attempts at constructing a canal through the Isthmus had been made since antiquity by Nero among others but it was the Hungarian engineers that completed the task in 1893.

Among the men who were inspired by Garibaldi’s fiery speeches and patriotic fervour was Hungarian Corinth Canal developer, István Türr. He was in his early 20s when after the Hungarian revolution of 1848 he found himself in Italy fighting in the battle of Piedmont in 1849. He was among the many foreigners and former exiles who joined Garibaldi’s volunteer army, the Cacciatori delle Alpi, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1859.

In 1860, Colonel István Türr joined the famous “1,000 fighters” of Garibaldi (otherwise I Mille or Redshirts) in the Expedition of the Thousand following the uprising in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Türr was appointed division commander and the Hungarian brigade played an important role in the capture of Naples. István Türr was promoted to General and went on to being active in the diplomatic field until 1867, after his marriage to Napoleon III’s niece in 1861.

Francis (Ferenc) Canal and Panama

When the Greek administration following the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869 decided to proceed in the development of the Isthmus of Corinth, István Türr had already become interested in canal concessions. In the late 1860s he won the concession of the Francis (Ferenc) Canal for 75 years and completed its reconstruction in 1872. In the 1870s, he took part in the international expedition to determine the routing of the Panama Canal together with Ferdinard de Lesseps and Béla Gerster.

Corinth Canal

The Corinth Canal was part of the modernization effort and infrastructure building that Trikoupis initiated in earnest in 1881. István Türr was assigned the project of its construction in 1881 and works began in 1882. Türr set up the “International Society of the Sea Corinth Canal” company. However, the company went bankrupt in 1890 and the project was completed by the company of A. Syngros.

It took 11 years and 4,000 workers to excavate 12 million cubic metres of hard rock and line the 30,000-square-metre surface of the slopes. The Corinth Canal is 6,346m long, 24.6 m wide at sea level and 21.3 m wide at bottom level and 7.5-8 m deep.

Engineers of the Corinth Canal

The Corinth Canal was designed by Hungarian engineer, Béla Gerster (1850-1923), with the assistance of French engineer Vincent Dauzats. There were four more Hungarian engineers in the team: István Kauser, László Nyári, Garibaldi Pulszky and István Stéghmüller. The isthmus was cut following the length of the 6,300-metre marking which Roman emperor Nero had applied.

Béla Gerster was a Vienna university engineering graduate, civil engineer and canal expert. In 1876, Gerster accompanied French Suez Canal developer, Ferdinand de Lesseps and István Türr in the international expedition to determine the routing of an interoceanic canal. He was reportedly the one who proposed the area between Panama and Colón. In 1877, Gerster worked with Türr in the reconstruction of the Francis (Ferenc) Canal on the Danube.

Gerster’s book “Cutting through the Corinthian Isthmus” is one of the most important on the subject and features drawings, photos and maps. Gerster was aided by Vincent Dauzats, graduate of the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure d’ Arts et Metiers and engineer in the Suez Canal.

Another Hungarian whose life was touched by Garibaldi in Gerster’s team was Garibaldi Pulszky. He was the son of Hungarian patriot, Ferenc Pulszky who took part in Garibaldi’s ill-fated expedition to Rome in 1862 and went on to name one of his four children after the Italian revolutionary.

Corinth Canal Today

The Corinth Canal saves smaller ships the 185-nautical-mile long journey around the Peloponnese but it is too narrow for modern freighters. It is used for tourist liners. Around 11,000 ships travel through the Canal every year.

Andrew Simon, Made in Hungary: Hungarian Contributions to Universal Culture, Simon Publications 1998

The copyright of the article Building the Corinth Canal in Greek History is owned by Lito Apostolakou. Permission to republish Building the Corinth Canal in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.