All, as it seems, are connected to a memory in the Argosaronic Gulf. The journey to myths and history, the exploration of tradition and nobility, the depiction of the beauty hidden in the complex of islands that is - so close to us - between the region of Attica and the eastern shores of the Peloponnese, is the purpose of this publication.

The islands have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The ancient shipwrecks are undeniable witnesses to the importance of the Argosaronic route. Ancient civilization has been imprinted here with religious centers, healing centers, temples, settlements, theaters. Everyone coveted them: the Romans, the pirates of the Aegean, the Venetians, the Ottomans. The islands, for centuries, maintained their distinct identity, adorned by the creations of Christian tradition and Greek seamanship. The islands of the Argosaronic Gulf, Spetses, Hydra, Poros, were the cradle for the creation of the first Greece and the launching pad, at the same time, for the Struggle for National Independence. Their contribution to the Revolution of 1821 was unique. That is why the Greeks loved them, with the brightest representatives of Greek intellect and art among the first. The emblematic Salamis, teeming with history and impressive landscapes, Aegina of Kapodistrias with its picturesque settlements, the lush Agistri with its crystal-clear beaches, the northeastern Peloponnese, the Methana peninsula with its famous healing baths, Hermione and Epidaurus, the coasts of Troizina, Kosta and Porto Heli, the aristocratic Poros with Galatas and its unique tranquility, the incomparable Spetses and, finally, the picturesque and cosmopolitan Hydra, together with the smaller Psytalleia, Diaporia, Tselevinia, Dokos, Modi, Lagouses, Spetsopoula, Hinitsa, Moni, etc., form the links of an island chain that presents a selfless image of beauty.

We host these places in the album, as they appear from above. And here, the image of Nikos Kazantzakis gains its full significance, who chose to live for years in Aegina: ... let it be autumn and you tear through this sea, murmuring the name of each island, I think there is no joy that sinks the heart of man more into Paradise. Nowhere else do you shift so peacefully and comfortably from reality to dream... Here Greece was glorified...

Nikos Haidemenos