Saronic Gulf
Encyclopedia
Aegina
Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
forms part of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
and defines the eastern side of the isthmus of Corinth
Isthmus of Corinth
The Isthmus of Corinth is the narrow land bridge which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece, near the city of Corinth. The word "isthmus" comes from the Ancient Greek word for "neck" and refers to the narrowness of the land. The Isthmus was known in the ancient...
. It is the eastern terminus of the Corinth Canal
Corinth Canal
The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland, thus effectively making the former an island. The builders dug the canal through...
, which cuts across the isthmus.
Geography
The gulf includes the islandsSaronic Islands
The Saronic Islands or Argo-Saronic Islands is an archipelago in Greece, named after the Saronic Gulf in which they are located, just off the Greek mainland. The main inhabited islands of this group are Salamis , Aegina, Angistri, and Poros...
of; Aegina
Aegina
Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...
, Salamis
Salamis Island
Salamis , is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 1 nautical mile off-coast from Piraeus and about 16 km west of Athens. The chief city, Salamina , lies in the west-facing core of the crescent on Salamis Bay, which opens into the Saronic Gulf...
, and Poros
Poros
Poros is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, at a distance about 58 km south from Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a 200-metre wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surface is about and it has 4,117...
along with smaller islands of Patroklou and Vleves. The port of Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Athens' port, lies on the northeastern edge of the gulf. The site of the former Ellinikon International Airport
Ellinikon International Airport
Ellinikon International Airport , sometimes spelled Hellinikon was the international airport of Athens, Greece for sixty years up until 2001 when it was replaced by the new Athens International Airport. It is located south of Athens, and just west of Glyfada...
is also in the northeast.
Beaches line much of the gulf coast from Poros
Poros
Poros is a small Greek island-pair in the southern part of the Saronic Gulf, at a distance about 58 km south from Piraeus and separated from the Peloponnese by a 200-metre wide sea channel, with the town of Galatas on the mainland across the strait. Its surface is about and it has 4,117...
to Epidaurus
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
, Galataki to Kineta
Kineta
Kineta is a suburban town located 55 km W of Athens, 14 km W of Megara and 25 km E of Corinth. Kineta is the westernmost town in Attica and is part of the municipality of Megara...
and from Megara
Megara
Megara is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four mythic sons of King...
to Eleusis and from Piraeus down to Anavyssos
Anavyssos
Anavyssos is a town and a former municipality in East Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Saronikos, of which it is a municipal unit....
. Athens' urban area surrounds the northern and the eastern coasts of this gulf.
Bays in the gulf include Phaleron Bay
Phaleron Bay
Faliron Bay, is a bay almost 8 km directly SW of Athens overlooking Andreas Syngrou Avenue...
, Elefsina Bay to the north, Kechries Bay in the northwest and Sofiko Bay in the east.
The volcano of Methana
Methana
Methana is a town and a former municipality on the Peloponnese peninsula, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Troizinia, of which it is a municipal unit....
is to the southwest along with Kromyonia at the Isthmus of Corinth, Aegina and Poros. Methana is also the youngest most active volcano center and forms the northwestern end of the cycladic arch of active volcanoes that includes Milos island, Santorini island and Nisyros island. A hydropathic institute at Methana makes use of the hot sulphurous water that still surfaces in the area. The most recent eruption was of a submarine volcano north of Methana in the 17th century.
The gulf has refineries around the northern part of the gulf including east of Corinth and west of Agioi Theodoroi, Eleusis, Aspropyrgos, Skaramangas and Keratsini. These refineries produce most of Greece's refined petroleum products, a large proportion of which are then exported. Commercial shipping to the refineries, Piraeus and to and from the canal make the gulf quite a busy area with commercial shipping.
The origin of the name comes from the mythological
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
king Saron
Saron
Saron may mean:* Saron, Western Cape, a town in South Africa* Saron a village of Santa Maria de Cayón Municipalitie.* Saron, a mythical king who gave his name to the Saronic Gulf* A Biblical name also written as Sharon...
who drowned at the Psifaei lake (modern Psifta). The Saronic Gulf was a string of six entrances to the Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
, each guarded by a chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
enemy in the shapes of thieves and bandits.
The Battle of Salamis
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis was fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in September 480 BCE, in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens...
, just to the west of modern day Piraeus, was a major turning point in European history which saw the Athenians defeat Xerxes
Xerxes I of Persia
Xerxes I of Persia , Ḫšayāršā, ), also known as Xerxes the Great, was the fifth king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire.-Youth and rise to power:...
assuring Athens its place as the cradle of modern European culture.
Fault lines dominate especially in the northwestern part.The port of Cenchreae used to situate here.
An earthquake on Monday January 4, 2005 rumbled the Saronic at the Richter scale of 4.9. It tremored Aegina
Aegina
Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...
and Nafplion
Nafplion
Nafplio is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Gulf. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Nafplio is now the capital of the peripheral unit of...
and went as far as Kalamata
Kalamata
Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...
. It occurred at 16:00 (UTC), 18:00 local time (BNST).
Tributaries
- Kechries Bay
- Saronic Bay Coast (basin)
- Lower Galataki Basin
- Upper Galataki Basin
- ExamiliaExamiliaExamilia is a town in the municipality of Corinth, Greece. Distance is about 7 km south of Corinth, E of Kechries , W of Loutra Elenis.- History :The town was first attested in 1676 by French archaeologist Jacob Spon as an Albanian village....
Basin - AthikiaAthikiaAthikia is the seat of the municipality of Saronikos, located in the prefecture of Corinthia in Greece. Athikia has a population of approximately 2000 and is located 15 km South of the city of Corinth....
Basin
- LoutroLoutro, ChaniaLoutro lies on the south coast of Chania Prefecture in west Crete, between Chora Sfakion and Agia Roumeli, the exit to the Samaria Gorge. The whole area is known as Sfakia and the inhabitants, the Sfakians, are fierce, proud mountain dwellers...
Basin
- Megara Bay/Megara GulfMegara GulfThe Megara Gulf is a gulf that is in the northern part of the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The total length is approximately 20 km long from north east to west and about 6 to 10 km wide from north to south...
- Cephissus River (Eleusis)
- Cephissus (Athenian plain)Cephissus (Athenian plain)Cephissus , Kifissós) or Cephisus Kifisos), a river flowing through the Athenian plain.In his summary of Greek mythology Apollodorus declares that Erechtheus' wife Praxithea was daughter of Phrasimus by Diogenia daughter of Cephissus.This river is found in the western part of the...
between PiraeusPiraeusPiraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
and Phaliron.
Sailing in the Saronic Gulf
Sailing is popular in the Saronic Gulf which, like the neighbouring Argolic Gulf, benefits from the Attic mainland'sAttica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
partial shelter from the summer Meltemi wind
Meltemi
Meltemi commonly refers to:* Meltemi , for mobile devices* Etesian, for winds...
that can reach Force
Beaufort scale
The Beaufort Scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort Wind Force Scale.-History:...
7 and above further to the east in the Aegean islands.
The Gulf boasts two particularly notable archaeological sites; the ancient theatre at Epidaurus
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
and nearby asclepieion and the The temple of Aphaia on Aegina.
See also
- Megara GulfMegara GulfThe Megara Gulf is a gulf that is in the northern part of the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. The total length is approximately 20 km long from north east to west and about 6 to 10 km wide from north to south...