AEGINA

Named after the Nymph Aegina. Inhabited first around 3000 BC. The Greeks settled in the Island around 2000 BC and they were the first in minting coins in the European continent. The Island passed to the hands of the King of Pergamo and then was occupied by the Turks in the 16th century. It took part in the Greek revolution and has been converted in the first State Capital of Greece. Among its major monuments, it is worth to visit the Temple of Aphea dedicated to goddess Athenea, the ruins of Apollo-Poseidon Temple and the Sanctuary of Zeus Helenios. From the Byzantine period, the Church of St. Theodore together with other monasteries are still visited. The Island welcomes daily thousands of tourists taking part in the famous Full Day Cruise to the Saronic Islands.