The canal of Xerxes in northern Greece: fact or fiction? Recent geophysical and geoarchaeological investigations

Herodotus describes how a canal was constructed in northern Greece by King Xerxes in around 480 BC to allow the Persian fleet into the Aegean in advance of its invasion of Greece. If so, this canal must have been a remarkable engineering operation for its time. This paper reports on the results of a non-invasive investigation at the supposed site of the canalon the 2 km wide isthmus of the Mount Athos peninsula. Geophysical. especially seismic survey, topographic survey and analysis of borehole sediments have played complementary roles in demonstrating that Herodotus ' account was very probably correct.