Aegae or Aigai was an ancient settlement 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:...

 located northwest of modern Aigeira

Aigeira

Aigeira or Aegira is 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. It is located about 500 m SW of the Gulf of Corinth in the northeastern part of Achaea. It is located on...

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Founded by the Pelasgian settleres and following the history of all of ancient Achaea, the Ionia

Ionia

Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...

ns invaded and settled the area and after the Lacedaemonian Achaea. As it was mentioned by 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...

 the settlement was built after Boura

Boura

Boura , was an ancient city of Achaea, Greece, one of the 12 cities of the Achaean League.It is said to have derived its name from a daughter of Ion and Helice....

 and next to the Krathis river. The village featured the temple of Hera

Hera

Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...

 and Gaea

Gaia (mythology)

Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...

. Its name came from Gaea (Gaea of Gaius, meaning Mother Earth). Aegae was also mentioned by 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...

 in the The Odyssey. In Book 5, line 398, it is said that Poseidon returned to a home at Aigai after lashing out at Odysseys at sea (Fitzgerald translation). It made its own currency, unnotedly was a member of the Ionian decapolis.

When Pausanias visited the area, it was for many years abandoned and ruined from 281 BC

281 BC

Year 281 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Barbula and Philippus...

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The location of the ancient city has been founded and excavated near Aigeira

Aigeira

Aigeira or Aegira is 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. It is located about 500 m SW of the Gulf of Corinth in the northeastern part of Achaea. It is located on...

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