Aigeira - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

"Egira" redirects here. For the noctuid moth genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

, see Egira (moth)

Egira (moth)

Egira is a moth genus in the family Noctuidae.-Species:* Egira acronyctoides * Egira alternans * Egira ambigua Galsworthy, 1997* Egira anatolica...

Aigeira or Aegira is a former municipality

Communities and Municipalities of Greece

For the new municipalities of Greece see the Kallikratis ProgrammeThe municipalities and communities of Greece are one of several levels of government within the organizational structure of that country. Thirteen regions called peripheries form the largest unit of government beneath the State. ...

in Achaea

Achaea

Achaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...

, West Greece, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia

Aigialeia

Aigialeia is a municipality and a former province of the Achaea peripheral unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aigio. The main towns are Aigio, Akrata and Diakopto. The mountains dominate the central, the southern and the western part, farmlands dominate the northern part...

, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located about 500 m SW of the Gulf of Corinth

Gulf of Corinth

The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece...

in the northeastern part of Achaea

Achaea

. It is located on GR-8

Greek National Road 8

The National Road 8 in Greece is a single carriageway with at-grade intersections in the Attica and Peloponnese regions. It links the cities of Patras, Corinth and Athens. Until the 1960s when the National Road 8A, a toll road, replaced it as a major route, it was the only road linking Athens and...

and has an interchange connecting the new highway with GR-8A

Greek National Road 8A

Greek National Road 8A is a toll road running from Kifissou avenue, in Athens up to the northeast of Patras. It is a highway from Kifissou avenue up to Corinth, for about 85 km and the rest is an undivided highway with just one lane per direction. The total length is 215 km, but for the...

and E65

European route E65

European route E 65 is a north-south Class-A European route that begins in Malmö, Sweden and ends in Chaniá, Greece. The road is about in length.-Itinerary:* Sweden** E 65: Malmö – Ystad* Baltic sea, ferry Ystad-Świnoujście* Poland...

. Distance from Patras

Patras

Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...

is 67 km E, about 4 km NE of Akrata

Akrata

Akrata, is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The location is in a valley with two mountaintops. The river named Krathi flows near the center of Akrata. ...

and 148 km W of Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

Subdivisions

The municipal unit Aigeira is subdivided into the following communities:

Aigeira
Aiges
Ampelokipoi
Chrysanthio
Exochi
Monastiri
Oasi
Perithori
Seliana
Seliana
Seliana also known as Phelloe is a Greek village located in north Peloponnese and more specifically in the east part of the prefecture of Achaea...
Sinevro
Vella

Historical population

Year	Municipal district	Municipality
1981	1,320	-
1991	1,696	4,211
2001	-	4,503

Transportation

It has a train station with no building connecting the railway line with Patras - Aigio - Aigira - Derveni - Xylokastro

Xylokastro

Xylokastro is a town and a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xylokastro-Evrostina, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 40 km W of Corinth via Greek National Road 8A/E65...

- Kiato

Kiato

Kiato is a coastal town in Greece that is agricultural-based. The town is located in the northern part of the prefecture of Corinthia in the Peloponnese, Greece. Kiato is located in a sandy area which features lemon trees, orange trees, and other fruit-bearing trees. It has a lot of tourist...

- Corinth

Corinth

Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

Geography

Mountains are founded to the south. Forests are founded to the west and east. One of the hills in the south is named Palaiokastro.

History

The area was founded in the 3rd millennium BC

3rd millennium BC

The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age.It represents a period of time in which imperialism, or the desire to conquer, grew to prominence, in the city states of the Middle East, but also throughout Eurasia, with Indo-European expansion to Anatolia, Europe and Central Asia. The...

. The city was known as Hyperesia (Greek: Υπερησία, Hyperesia) during Homer

Homer

In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

ic times. In 688 BC, Hyperesia changed to Aegira.

According to Pausanias, Hyperesia was threatened once by a hostile army from Sicyon

Sicyon

Sikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia...

. The locals defended their city by placing burning torches on their goats' (aiges in Greek) antlers. As a result, the invadors left in fear while the Hyperesians renamed their town Αigeira (Greek: Aίγειρα) to honor the goats.
The city was prosperous and was one of the twelve most important cities in the Achaean League

Achaean League

The Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese, which existed between 280 BC and 146 BC...

. It was also a member of the Achaean league. According to Pausanias

Pausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...

, there was a statue of Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

and Athena

Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...

as well as a temple of Artemis

Artemis

Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...

Agrotera

Agrotera was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, and the most important goddess to Attic hunters.At Agrae on the Ilissos, where she was believed to have first hunted after her arrival from Delos, Artemis Agrotera had a temple, dating to the 5th century BC, with a statue carrying a bow...

.

The city was destroyed when Achaea became part of the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. Allegedly it was destroyed by a flood. Since then, the city is 400 m above sea level. Others said it was destroyed by an earthquake.

Archaeology

The Austrian Archaeological Institute made excavations in Aigeira in 1916. The team along with Otto Walter

Otto Walter

Otto Walter was an Austrian archaeologist.He was a co-worker from 1910-1945 and was a director of the Österreichische Archäologische Institute, lit. the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens. He became a professor in 1945 at the University of Vienna...

found the head of the statue of Zeus

Zeus

which according to Pausanias was a work by the Attic sculptor Eukleides Euclid

Euclid

Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...

. Walter also found the left arm, the finger at the right hand later.

From 1972, excavations led by Wilhelm Alzinger

Wilhelm Alzinger

Wilhelm Alzinger was an Austrian archaeologist.He was a co-worker of the Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts from 1952 to 1970. He trained activity at the University of Vienna and undertook excavations at Ephesus, Aigeira and Aguntum.- Works :* Die Stadt des siebenten Weltwunders...

excavated the Mycenaean acropolis, the ancient theatre and several naiskoi next to the theatre (naiskos

Naiskos

The naiskos is a small temple in Classical order with columns or pillars and pediment. Often applied as an artificial motif, it is not rare in ancient art...

(small temple)). The floor of one of is decorated with a pebble mosaic representing an eagle with a serpent.
Also, the Tycheio (sanctaury of Tyche) described by Pausanias was uncovered next to the theatre. Further to the north, foundations of two small temples were explored by Anton Bammer. On the terrace north of the acropolis, a presumably public building with banqueting rooms and bathing facilities was located ande excavated by Georg Ladstätter.

Other

Its major soccer team is Thyella Aigeira, its uniform is black and white. Aigeira is also home to non-league amateur football club Panegiratikos.

External links

	North: Gulf of Corinth Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece...
West: Akrata Akrata Akrata, is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The location is in a valley with two mountaintops. The river named Krathi flows near the center of Akrata. ...	Aigeira/Egeira	East: Evrosthyni Derveni -In Greece:Derveni, Achaea, part of the municipality of Diakopto, AchaeaDerveni, Arcadia, part of the municipality of Megalopoli, Arcadia*Derveni, Corinthia, a town in the northwestern part of Corinthia, in the municipality Evrostini...
	South: Akrata Akrata Akrata, is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is a municipal unit. The location is in a valley with two mountaintops. The river named Krathi flows near the center of Akrata. ...

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