Archaeological finds in Kolona, near the island’s capital, dating back to 3000 BC, prove that the island was inhabited during the Neolithic period. In Kolona, there are also the remains of an ancient Temple to Apollo.
The Minoans were the next rulers of the island, followed by the Achaeans and the Dorians.
Aegina saw its economical and naval power grow around the middle of the second millennium BC, developing its trade and carrying with its own ships local products to the Cyclades, Crete and the mainland Greece.
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In these centuries, the island was very wealthy: those were the golden times of Aegina.
The powerful fleet of the island made a major contribution during the Battle of Salamis against the Persians, on the side of the Greeks.
After the Persian defeat, Aegina continued to flourish and its inhabitants built the superb Temple of Aphaia. |
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Greece: the domination by Philip of Macedonia followed by the one of his son, Alexander the Great, then his successors, the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Roman rule (about 86 AD), followed by the Byzantine Times, the Venetian domination and the Turkish yoke until the Revolution of 1921.
Aegina made an important contribution during the Greek Revolution against the Turks and came again under a brief moment of new glory during 1827 to 1829, when the island was declared the temporary capital of the partly liberated Greece.
But, with the creation of the Modern Greek State in 1930, Aegina returned to its shadow and to its more humble position of first producer of pistachio nuts in Greece. |
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