Aegina: Miranda

The main site we went to saw on the island of Aegina was the Temple of Aphaia. Now that we’ve been studying the styles of architecture at all the sites the past few weeks, I’m starting to be able to identify the differences. The Temple of Aphaia has elements that are precursors to the Parthenon in Athens. All of the columns have the same slight taper and the columns at the four corners are slightly wider to create the optical illusion that they are all the same width when the sunlight shines on the temple.

Another thing I found interesting is that Aphaia was a goddess only worshipped on that island, so when Aegina lost its prestige and was under the influence of more powerful city-states, the temple became centered on Athena. I had no idea until this visit that temples could be transferred from one god or goddess to another. I had assumed that old temples would be destroyed to make way for a new temple with no previous associations.

Our tour guide Smaro told us about some conspiracy theorists or extraterrestrial believers who think there is a secret meaning behind the Temple of Aphaia, the Temple of Poseidon, and the Parthenon. They say the three sites form an equilateral triangle, which apparently means something weird or important. Some of us were curious about it, so we looked up the locations online, and the sites in fact do not form a triangle with equal sides. So we dispelled what could have been an interesting fun fact…

Because all of us went to Santorini on our free weekend, we had already experienced an island before heading to Aegina. I’m going to speak for all of us and say our time in Santorini was amazing, so we were looking forward to going to another island while on this trip. The island lifestyle is different than the bustling city of Athens – the atmosphere is more relaxing and the weather is a little cooler (a welcome change). The people on the islands are even a little friendlier than Athenians, who can be a little intrusive and pushy in the touristy areas. While on Aegina, we got some free time to enjoy lunch and go to the beach, which was the perfect way to cool off in the mini heat wave. It was a great last site visit.