Aegina is one of the Greek islands that is close to Athens and many of the Athenians visit it every year!
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about this island!
- Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf
- It is 27 kilometres (17 miles) from Athens
- Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus
- Who was born on the island and became its king
- During ancient times Aegina was a rival of Athens, the great sea power of the era
- The municipality of Aegina consists of the island of Aegina and a few offshore islets
- It is part of the Islands regional unit, Attica region
- The municipality is subdivided into the following five communities
- The capital is the town of Aegina
- It is situated at the northwestern end of the island
- Due to its proximity to Athens, it is a popular vacation place during the summer months
- With quite a few Athenians owning second houses on the island
- The province of Aegina was one of the provinces of the Piraeus Prefecture
- Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Aegina and Agkistri
- It was abolished in 2006
- Aegina is roughly triangular in shape
- Approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) from east to west and 10 km (6.2 mi) from north to south
- With an area of 87.41 km2 (33.75 sq mi)
- An extinct volcano constitutes two-thirds of Aegina
- The northern and western sides consist of stony but fertile plains
- Which are well cultivated and produce luxuriant crops of grain, with some cotton, vines, almonds, olives and figs
- But the most characteristic crop of Aegina today (2000s) is pistachio
- Economically, the sponge fisheries are of notable importance
- The southern volcanic part of the island is rugged and mountainous, and largely barren
- Its highest rise is the conical Mount Oros (531 m) in the south
- And the Panhellenian ridge stretches northward with narrow fertile valleys on either side
- The beaches are also a popular tourist attraction
- Hydrofoil ferries from Piraeus take only forty minutes to reach Aegina
- Τhe regular ferry takes about an hour
- ith ticket prices for adults within the 4- 15 euro range
- There are regular bus services from Aegina town to destinations throughout the island such as Agia Marina
- Portes is a fishing village on the east coast
- Temple of Aphaea, dedicated to its namesake, a goddess who was later associated with Athena
- The temple was part of a pre-Christian, equilateral holy triangle of temples
- Including the Athenian Parthenon and the temple of Poseidon at Sounion
- Monastery of Agios Nectarios, dedicated to Nectarios of Aegina
- A recent saint of the Greek Orthodox Church
- Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776–1831), the first administrator of free modern Greece, had a large building constructed
- Intended as a barracks, it was used subsequently as a museum, a library and a school
- The museum was the first institution of its kind in Greece
- But the collection was transferred to Athens in 1834
- A statue in the principal square commemorates him
- Temple of Zeus Hellanios, near the village of Pachia Rachi, is a 13th-century Byzantine church
- It is built on the ruins of the ancient temple to Zeus Hellanios, built in the 4th century BC
- The staircase leading up to the church, some of the original walls, and loose stones from the earlier temple remain
- In Greek mythology, Aegina was a daughter of the river god Asopus and the nymph Metope
- She bore at least two children: Menoetius by Actor, and Aeacus by the god Zeus
- When Zeus abducted Aegina, he took her to Oenone, an island close to Attica
- Here, Aegina gave birth to Aeacus, who would later become king of Oenone
- Thenceforth, the island’s name was Aegina
- Aegina was the gathering place of Myrmidons
- In Aegina they gathered and trained
- Zeus needed an elite army and at first thought that Aegina, which at the time did not have any villagers, was a good place
- So he changed some ants into warriors who had six hands and wore black armour
- Later, the Myrmidons, commanded by Achilles, were known as the most fearsome fighting unit in Greece
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