Introduction & General Information

Due to its proximity to Athens, Aegina island attracts many Athenians during the weekends, throughout the year and especially during summertime. Aegina is a beautiful, fertile and verdant island, full of pine trees and olive trees, picturesque villages, fine beaches and interesting archaeological monuments such as the beautiful Temple of Aphaia, built in the 5th century BC, and considered as the finest archaeological monument of the Saronic Gulf and the Aegean.

Aegina is also the land of pistachios. The island produces them since antiquity and offers a wide range of those excellent nuts, prepared and served in all the imaginable ways.

During the Classical times, the island was a major power in competition with Athens who, displeased by the great power of this little island, attacked in 459 BC, forcing Aegina to surrender its fleet. Since then, Aegina completely lost its hegemony and, except from another brief moment of glory when it became the capital of the partially liberated Greece (from 1827 to 1829), the island never recovered from the Athenian attack and remained in the shadow of Greece's capital.

The first Governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, emphasized the care of the orphans who were from the war. For that reason, he built an Orphanage that also used to operate as a school. After many years the orphanage was being used as a prison. Aegina is also well-known thanks to the famous Greek writer, Nikos Kazantzakis, who loved the island and was living there when he wrote his world-known book Zorba the Greek. Another important personality of the island is Paul of Aegina, the Greek physician of the 7th century.

The beauty of the landscape, the hospitality of the inhabitants, the rich archaeological material and the modern touristy facilities will please and charm every visitor who sets its foot on the bright, colorful little island of Aegina.

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