While the Greek island of Aegina may be renowned for its beautiful sandy beaches, pistachio orchards, and majestic ancient temple of the local deity Aphaia, few know of its fascinating ancient history.
According to myth, the island took its name from a nymph – daughter of the river God Asopos – whom Zeus fell in love with and took to the area. Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands, just 17 miles from Athens.
At the foot of the Acropolis of Aegina lies the semi-submerged ruins of one of the most important military harbours of ancient Greece, referred to by the second-century AD historian Pausanias as the secret harbour – “kryptos limin” in classical Greek.
From early 1827 to late 1829, Aegina town served as the temporary capital of the newly founded Greek state.
During this period, Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias, one of the most distinguished politicians and diplomats of 19th-century Europe, had several impressive neoclassical mansions built to house his headquarters.
The name of the ancient harbour referenced the fact that only locals knew its location and, most importantly, how to navigate its shore due to the presence of a man-made system of reefs, which made it dangerous for enemies of the Aeginites to enter the harbour.
“Pausanias wrote that Aiakos, the legendary first ruler of Aegina, had thrown rocks into the sea to obstruct enemy ships from approaching Aegina. He does call them rocks, but these are actually man-made, constructed formulations”, explained Despina Koutsoumba, marine archaeologist at the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture, according to the Greek Reporter.
This artificial reef system is even present in today’s bathymetric (underwater) maps that ships use for navigation, and even ships entering the area today need to pay attention to it, Koutsoumba continued.
One of the 11 largest naval city-states at the time, Aegina had contributed, according to the ancient historian and geographer Herodotus, 30 manned triremes (ancient warships) to the naval Battle of Salamis, a strategic milestone of the Persian wars in 480 BC, the 2,500th anniversary of which was celebrated in 2020.
“Aegina was destroyed by the Athenians in 458 BC due to their great rivalry for the same markets of the Mediterranean. During the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians exiled the locals, and installed Athenian cleruchs – elite military officials – on the island. The Aeginites were only repatriated when the Peloponnesian War ended”, Koutsoumba explained.
Despite the island’s small size, it boasts a great number of sights and natural beauties. The highlight is the famous Aphea Temple, which forms a equilateral triangle with the Parthenon, and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion, the so-called “holy triangle” of antiquity.
While Aegina town, the capital of the island, stands out for its well preserved buildings, on the outskirts there are also several charming villages, each with a distinctive traditional character, such as Agia Marina, Souvala, Agii and Vagia.
Aegina is also surrounded by several smaller islands, such as Moni, Diaportia, Kyra and Anonyma, which can be visited by boat from the port of Aegina.