Probably the best place to start is with a map of the island.
We are staying on the north coast that looks across directly across to the Peloponnese peninsula and Athens if you look a little to the east. Our location is Vagiia. Just to the south of us, dominating the hillside between us and Aegina Marina is the Temple of Aphasia. (The spellings here, even in the roman alphabet are a movable feast).
It was excavated in 1811 and the best sculpture removed for auction. It was bought by (Mad) King Ludwig of Bavaria. They now reside in a Munich museum. So, Lord Elgin, you're not the only one.
The temple was constructed in 580 BCE. Apparently this temple, the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion form an equilateral triangle. Whether this is design or accident isn't mentioned in the books.
A view of the South East end of the island which is not inhabited and consequently has no infrastructure.
Paliachora or Old Town is a fascinating visit. This is now a ghost town with the ruins of about 40 churches remaining from what was a total of 365.
For nearly a thousand years the population of Aegina lived on this precipitous hillside with a citadel at the very top. The reason they packed their bags and moved up the hill was for self defence. Living on the coast they were sitting ducks for the Saracen pirate raids so in 896 CE, up they went. The churches were built of the rock from the hill and the homes were low and earth coloured. Invisibility was the intention. The raids continued over the centuries with 1537 being a particularly disasterous year when Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the pirate Barbarossa to attack. All the male population were killed and the women raped then, with the children taken into slavery. In the early 1820s with the War of Independence the town was briefly the capital of Greece. With some semblance of peace restored, the locals moved back to the coast and the town was abandoned.
Looking up toward the citadel. You can just make out the ruins of the surviving churches if you expand the picture.
A few of the churches still have original frescoes in them. It's hard to be sure of the dates but I guess these pictured are C14.
Further details of the frescoes.
This was a really great visit, though at times a strenuous climb. In a very different way I had visions of Ani, that other ghost city on the old silk road.
We drove down to the little fishing port of Perdika on the South Western tip where we took a boat to the uninhabited island of Moni. In the first picture below we are leaving the port,
then here we are on the island. Apart from thousands of sea birds Moni has a resident population of wild deer and not so wild peacocks.
You can also sunbathe there.
A final shot on our last evening at Aegina.
We are staying on the north coast that looks across directly across to the Peloponnese peninsula and Athens if you look a little to the east. Our location is Vagiia. Just to the south of us, dominating the hillside between us and Aegina Marina is the Temple of Aphasia. (The spellings here, even in the roman alphabet are a movable feast).
It was excavated in 1811 and the best sculpture removed for auction. It was bought by (Mad) King Ludwig of Bavaria. They now reside in a Munich museum. So, Lord Elgin, you're not the only one.
The temple was constructed in 580 BCE. Apparently this temple, the Parthenon and the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion form an equilateral triangle. Whether this is design or accident isn't mentioned in the books.
A view of the South East end of the island which is not inhabited and consequently has no infrastructure.
Paliachora or Old Town is a fascinating visit. This is now a ghost town with the ruins of about 40 churches remaining from what was a total of 365.
For nearly a thousand years the population of Aegina lived on this precipitous hillside with a citadel at the very top. The reason they packed their bags and moved up the hill was for self defence. Living on the coast they were sitting ducks for the Saracen pirate raids so in 896 CE, up they went. The churches were built of the rock from the hill and the homes were low and earth coloured. Invisibility was the intention. The raids continued over the centuries with 1537 being a particularly disasterous year when Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the pirate Barbarossa to attack. All the male population were killed and the women raped then, with the children taken into slavery. In the early 1820s with the War of Independence the town was briefly the capital of Greece. With some semblance of peace restored, the locals moved back to the coast and the town was abandoned.
Looking up toward the citadel. You can just make out the ruins of the surviving churches if you expand the picture.
A few of the churches still have original frescoes in them. It's hard to be sure of the dates but I guess these pictured are C14.
Further details of the frescoes.
This was a really great visit, though at times a strenuous climb. In a very different way I had visions of Ani, that other ghost city on the old silk road.
We drove down to the little fishing port of Perdika on the South Western tip where we took a boat to the uninhabited island of Moni. In the first picture below we are leaving the port,
then here we are on the island. Apart from thousands of sea birds Moni has a resident population of wild deer and not so wild peacocks.
You can also sunbathe there.
We enjoyed a really good night out with a very nice couple, Brian and Jo who were saying at the Beachhouse. This was in Aegina Marina. The picture incidentally was taken by a Polish film producer who Helen persuaded to use his talents on us.
The fish market in Aegina, though not busy as it was Sunday.
A final shot on our last evening at Aegina.
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