4 Best Sights in The Saronic Gulf Islands, Greece

Housed in an impressive mansion, this collection of historical artifacts and paintings has exhibits that date back to the 18th century. Heirlooms from the Balkan wars as well as from World War I and II are exhibited in the lobby. A small upstairs room contains figureheads from ships that fought in the 1821 War of Independence. There are old pistols and navigation aids, as well as portraits of the island's heroes and a section devoted to traditional local costume, including the dark karamani pantaloons worn by Hydriot men. Temporary art exhibits are also showcased from time to time.

A fine and impressive late 18th-century archontiko, owned by the locally renowned Hatziyianni-Mexi family and built in an architectural style that might be termed Turko-Venetian, contains the town's municipal museum. Its modest interiors hold articles from the period of Spetses's greatness during the War of Independence, such as the famous revolutionary flag with "Freedom or Death" written on it. Sadly, both the flag and the remains of the heroic revolutionary general, Bouboulina, whose statue graces the harbor, are not given the honor they deserve. A small collection of ancient artifacts consists mostly of ceramics, Neolithic arrowheads, statuettes, and coins. Also on display are representative pieces of furniture and household items from the period of the Greek revolution.

This small but choice collection of artifacts was founded by Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1829 and is regarded as the first national archaeological museum in the newly independent Greek state. Finds from the famed Temple of Aphaia and from excavations across the island, including Early- and Middle-Bronze-Age pottery, are on display. Among the Archaic and Classical works of art is the distinctive “Ram Jug,” a mid-Protoattic oinochoe (circa 650 BC) that shows Odysseus and his crew escaping Polyphemus the Cyclops, and a 5th-century-BC marble sphinx, a votive monument with a woman’s head, a lion’s body, and outstretched eagle wings.

Aegina was renowned as one of the best schools of pottery and sculpture in antiquity, and the exhibits here prove it. Just above the Archaeological Museum stands the ancient acropolis of Kolona, long the island’s religious and political heart. The settlement was first established in the Early Bronze Age (circa 3000 BC) and took the name Kolona (“Column”), popularized in Venetian times, because a single column of the Temple of Apollo still dominates the hill. Though the site is jumbled—archaeologists count 11 successive occupation layers—it’s a delight for archaeology buffs: you can trace fortification walls circa 1600–1300 BC, foundations of Classical shrines, and even modest Byzantine structures atop the ridge.

Set inside a handsome 1828 Neoclassical town house, bequeathed to the municipality by the Iriotis family, the museum re-creates island life in three vividly staged rooms. Upstairs you’ll find a parlor decked with period furniture, naïf paintings, lace curtaining, and wedding costumes that once graced local homes. Downstairs, a Fisherman’s Room features wooden floats, nets, and sponge-diving knives, while a Village Room displays hand-forged farm tools and an olive press from the interior hamlets. A small ground-floor gallery hosts temporary exhibitions.