continuously occupied, as it will be explained later. Its early inhabitation caused it to gain some important apparitions on literature, among which we find The Iliad by Homer.
This mentions the island in the Trojan War work frame, as an ally of Aegina Island. In addition, Thucydides –approximately between 470 and 335 BC- and Diodoros –between 90 and 21 BC- mention the island of Agistri as well; although all of them use its original name.
When it comes to the political organisation during those times, Agistri was part of the Aegina kingdom, along with other neighbouring islands, like Aponissos, Kontari, and Megaritissa, which also count on important findings in archaeological terms.
The group of islands that formed the kingdom of Aegina was governed by King Aeakos. That is why the histories of this kingdom and the island of Agistri are usually related.
As time went by, the following important fact comes in the 14th century, when the Serbian imperial expansion took place. |
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However, during the 17th century the island went through an abandonment phase.
Although there were some years in which it was not completely inhabited, the population was so low that in the census of the time did not mention it at all. This was mainly due to the many pirate raids that occurred on this period.
However, after some years this was rectified, and the Royal Decree established a municipality that gave evidence of 248 inhabitants by the year 1835.
In spite of this difficult stage, the Albanian influence exerted on the island is still obvious after so many centuries. For example, when it comes to the colourful dresses and headscarves that some old women still keep, especially on Milos –known as ‘Megalochori’.
The following important historical fact is given by another period during which Agistri was left by its inhabitants. This took place in the 20th century, more specifically in the 1920’s. |
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In the early 1970’s, another important service was available on the island: electricity. In addition, by the late 1970’s a road to Limenaria was built. This was followed by the introduction of a small bus with 12 seats that connected Skala, Megalochori, and Limenaria, three of the four current communities of the island -the other one is Metochi.
Nowadays, thanks to all these improvements, the number of inhabitants goes over 1000, which are distributed along the four communities of the island. Regarding the Municipality, it is settled in Megalochori.
Fortunately, the improvements introduced on these later centuries allowed a level of convenience that, when combined to the great beauty of islands like Agistri, guarantee the ideal features to take advantage of, during the vacation period. That is why during high season the number usually reaches peaks of 4500 people.
In fact, since those times, the base of the economy switched from agriculture into tourism, a change that occurred on many Greek islands. |
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