Upon arriving at the port, one is immediately welcomed into Aegina’s artistic realm by “The Gate of Aegina,” a large-scale sculpture by Kostas Varotsos. Crafted from glass and metal, it mirrors the proportions of the wooden doors found adorning the island’s neoclassical buildings. Of his piece, Varotsos, a sculptor of international note, says: “Arriving in Aegina is akin to passing through a magical gateway into paradise.
Though the journey is brief, the destination feels remarkably distant.” The gate marks the start of a 45-minute art walk along the beachfront, leading to the Kapralos Museum, once the residence and workshop of the foremost Greek sculptor of the 20th century. As the road ascends to the left of the harbor, it leads to the archaeological site of Kolona, once a strategic vantage point crowned by the Temple of Apollo.
Beyond this point, the path winds past impressive villas from the 1900s, built in line with Western architectural ideals of that era. Fifteen minutes further on is the stone house of Nikos Nikolaou, a prominent visual artist of the 1930s. His nephew, the architect Thodoris Zoumboulakis, meticulously restored the studio based on an old photograph.
Inside, the presence of Nikolaou can almost be felt; his brushes, paints, and personal belongings are carefully arranged in a corner, evoking his spirit. The studio houses his vibrant paintings and the ceramic items and stones he painted, along with sculpting tools he used to shape stones that h.
