Aigio


Aigio, also written as Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio, is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Aigio is the second largest city in Achaea after Patras. The municipal unit has an area of 151.101 km2. It has population of around 26,000 while the municipality has about 49,000 inhabitants. Aigio is a port town on the Gulf of Corinth, and takes its name from the ancient city of Aegium.

Geography

The southwestern part of the municipality consists of the foothills of the Panachaiko mountain. The river Selinountas flows into the Gulf of Corinth in Valimitika, 5 km east of Aigio town centre.

History

Antiquity

Before the founding of the city, the area had a Neolithic settlement. The city of Aigion was founded during Homeric times and became part of the first Achaean League since around 800 BC. The city had several Olympic winners, including Xenophon, Ladas, Athenodorus, Straton.
After the disaster of Helike, which was destroyed by an earthquake and buried by a tsunami in 373 BC, Aigion took the territory of the neighbouring city. The ruins of Helike were discovered in 2000 off the coast in the Corinthian Gulf and are sometimes connected to Plato's Atlantis myth. Archeologists are excavating the site.
From 330 BC, Aigion was for fifty years under the Kingdom of Macedon. Around the year 275 BC the people expelled the Macedonian garrison and the city joined the new Achaean League. With the famous temple of Zeus Homarios, Aigion became the Achaean assembly place. It remained their capital until the Roman conquest in 146 BC. After the annexation of Achaia, the Romans removed the wall of the city and Aegium lost its importance.

Byzantine era

After the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Aegium became a part of the Eastern Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire. Later, in 805 it was captured by Slavic tribes during the Slavic invasions. Probably between 9th and 13th century it was renamed to Vostitsa. In the Chronicle of the Morea, it is first mentioned with this new name. The following centuries the name is found in various documents having different spelling forms like Bostizza, Ligustizza, Bostitza, Bostiza, Vostizza.
Some scholars interpret the name as having a Slavic origin. The German linguist and Slavicist Max Vasmer gives two possible interpretations, one from the word Voščica and one from the word ovoštь, meaning "fructus" or "garden". Dionysios Zakythinos, a Greek scholar of Byzantium, gives a similar interpretation explaining the name as "fruit-bearing place".
Christos Coryllos, in his detailed "Description of Greece", had given another interpretation. He writes that after the plague epidemic, numerous Avar or Slav shepherds migrated to this area. One of their leaders had the name "Vostitzas", from whom the town later took its name.
19th-century German writer Joseph Baron Ow, in his book Die Abstammung der Griechen und die Irrthümer und Täuschungen des Dr. Ph. Fallmerayer, written in 1846, gives a completely different interpretation. He writes that the name Bostiza is a diminutive form of the word Bosta which comes from the French word Bastion. From Βosta comes the word Bostan/Bostani which is common in Greek and Turkish language and it means garden.

Frankish and Ottoman era

The city was captured by the Crusaders in the early 13th century and became the seat of a barony of the Principality of Achaea. In the early 15th century, it was conquered by the Despotate of the Morea.
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In 1459 it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, who ruled it until the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, except for brief interruptions by the Venetians from 1463 until 1470, and from 1685 until 1715. The city was captured by the Greek rebels on 26 March 1821, becoming one of the first towns to be liberated from Ottoman rule.
In July 1822, at Akrata, near the town, a force of Greek fighters under Londos, Zaimis and Petimezas surrounded and attacked a group of 4000 Turks marching to Patras, after their defeat at the Battle of Dervenakia. Only a few Turks were lucky to escape when Yusuf Pasha sent ships to take them to Patras.
After Greek Independence, the town was officially renamed to its ancient name.

Modern era

On June 15, 1995, a serious earthquake destroyed many buildings and damaged roads in the downtown and southwestern sections, with a number of casualties. The earthquake shattered Aigio: small memorials are found throughout the city, with candles aglow day and night to remember the victims. The mountainous countryside near Aigio was severely damaged by the 2007 Greek forest fires.

Landmarks and sights

Until May 2011, a ferry served the port of Aigio, connecting it to the north-eastern mainland city of Agios Nikolaos. The ferry service was limited, with only three ferries daily. The trip was 45 minutes long. In May 2011, the shipping company that operated the ferry announced that it was suspending the ferry because of financial reasons. An electric ferry is planned.
The port also has railroad tracks, but the Hellenic Railways Organisation announced suspension of service in Aigio and across the Pelopponese in January 2011.
As of 2020, a new double standard-gauge railway line connects Aigio with Kiato and Athens. The new Aigio railway station lies at the east outskirts of the city. It opened in 22 June 2020 and few days later it was inaugurated by the minister of transportation of Greece.
Roads serving the city are Motorway 8 and Greek National Road 31.

Infrastructure and economy

Aigio, along with Patras and Piraeus, has been one of the main export hubs for Corinthian raisins since the 19th century. In the book Geography of Greece - Achaia by Christos Coryllos, it is mentioned that the area of Aigio produced 7.5-10 million Kgs of raisins and 600 thousand kgs of olive oil annually. Today the port is used as a fruit import hub for Chiquita Brands International, mainly for the importation of bananas.
A new 256 m-long pier northwest of the existing port was inaugurated on 7 August 2013. The whole project cost 8.6 million Euros and is intended to enhance trade and tourism opportunities for the city.
Aigio houses two branch departments of the Technological Educational Institute of Patras, the department of Physiotherapy and the Optics and Optometry department.
The Aigio General Hospital is situated a few kilometres out of the town and has a capacity of 100 beds. The Hospital performs the greatest number of laparoscopic surgeries in Greece, while more than 50,000 people are examined on a yearly basis.

Sports

Aigio has a football stadium called "Municipal Stadium of Aigion", which has a capacity of ~7,000. It was built in 1951 and was last renovated in 1999. For many years Aigio lacked basic facilities for water sports such as swimming or water polo. A new outdoor swimming pool was completed in January 2018.

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Aigio is subdivided into the following communities :

Mayors