Beyond the hills that rise to the left of the lagoon stood, once upon the time, ancient Anactorium. It was a colony of Corinth, founded c.620 BCE, by two illegitimate sons of Cypselus, the first tyrant of Corinth. During the thirty years of his rule he founded many colonies and increased trade with Italy and Sicily. The strategic location of Anactorium, across from the gulf’s entrance, turned it into a prosperous entrepôt. The Anactorians joined the other Greeks in the battle of Plataea, and the colony’s name was included in the list of the cities that was engraved on the gold tripod dedicated to Delphi, in honour of the final Greek victory against the Persians.