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Welcome to Aegina (occasionally spelt as Egina or Aigina). Aegina, one of the 5 Saronic Gulf Islands, is close enough to Athens for inhabitants to commute to the city for work.The islands are extremely popular, with good hotels but no facilities for camping. The island group owes its name to the mythical King Saron, a hunter, who was said to have drowned whilst following a deer that swam into the gulf to escape the pursuit. The visitor can reach Aegina by one of around 10 daily ferries that leave Piraeus' Great Harbour and takes about 90 minutes. The island can also be reached by utilising the hydrofoil or catamaran sevices. Aegina, with a population of around 11,000, was an important and wealthy commercial centre 3,000 years ago trading with Egypt and Phoenicia. It's thought that the silver 'turtle' coins minted in the 7th century were the first to be sruck in Europe. Her fleet was strong enough to make a significant difference on the Greek side at the Battle of Salamis. However, Athens felt threatened by Aegina's maritime strength and attacked the island in the mid 5th century BC, demanding the destruction of the city walls and the handing over of the fleet when the island was defeated. These actions sounded the death knell for the island's importance and it never recovered from this double blow. After 2000 years of comparative obscurityAegina had another brief moment of glory during the 2 years between 1827 and 1829 when it became the capital of the newly, and partially, liberated Greece. In modern times the island now enjoys the position of Greece's main producer of pistachio nuts. The famous Greek author Nikos Kazanzakis wrote his book, Zorba the Greek whilst living near the town of Aegina. Aegina town is the capital and busy main port of the island. There is a museum, and the remains of a 5th century Temple of Apollo are near the town's beach. More impressive are the remains of the Doric temple of Aphaia, built in 480BC, which are 10kms to the east of the town. Inland are the ruins of Paleohora which was the island's capital for almost 1000 years up until 1826. It became the island's capital when the islanders tried to hide from marauding pirates. It wasn't always successful as, when the infamous pirate Barbarossa attacked and destroyed the town in 1537, the islanders were sold into slavery. The two tiny islands of Moni and Angistri (the larger of the two) both lie a short boat trip off the western coast of Aegina. |