Markellos Tower
A 19th-century tower built by the politician Spyros Markellos. It was the seat of government when Aegina was the capital of modern Greece (1828-1829). Today a cultural centre with free exhibitions.
When Aegina was the capital, and this tower was the government
This tower stands in the town of Aegina itself, on a quiet little square a few minutes’ walk from the port. It goes almost unnoticed if you are not looking for it on purpose: a solid two-storey stone building with small windows and an air more defensive than palatial. And yet it is one of the most historically dense corners in the Aegean.
It is thought to have been built in 1802 by Spyros Markellos, a member of the Greek Parliament and one of the leading soldiers who fought in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1829). The tower was conceived as the fortified residence of a local notable: in those years, with the Ottoman occupation still in force, a house with thick walls and few openings made practical rather than decorative sense.
The year Greece’s future was decided here
Between 1826 and 1827 the tower served as a state building where government meetings were held. Since Aegina was the capital of modern Greece during 1828 and 1829, it was also used to house the offices of several members of the Cabinet and of the Governor of Aegina himself, Andreas Giannitsis. Key documents passed through here: the first tax decrees, the postal system, the international recognition of the new state.
The move of the capital to Nafplio in 1829 and, shortly after, to Athens, left Markellos Tower without a political role, but the building survived because the family carried on living in it into the twentieth century. Along with the Archaeological Museum of Aegina and the Kolona site, it is one of the three “founding buildings” of the modern Greek state that you can visit in the old town.
What you find today if you get inside
The tower now belongs to Aegina town council and works as a cultural centre hosting exhibitions, talks and other events. We happened on a photography exhibition (free) when we dropped by; other times there is local painting, poetry readings or children’s workshops run by the council. The opening hours are completely irregular: it depends on whether an event is on. The practical approach is to ask at the tourist office by the port or, simply, to try your luck: if it is open, you can tell from the square.
Inside, the original rooms survive, with wooden ceilings, stone floors and narrow stairs leading to the upper floor. From the upstairs windows there are views over the port and the neoclassical old town. The visit itself takes 20 minutes, but it is the kind of place that keeps you longer if there happens to be a good exhibition on.
How to fit it into a walk around the old town
The plan we recommend: start the day by going up to Kolona, carry on to the Archaeological Museum (right next to the site), come down to the port, cut through the fruit and fish market, and head into the back streets of the old town until you come across Markellos Tower. From there, a taverna in the shade and a whole day in Aegina town without ever getting in the car. If you have half an afternoon left after that, you can carry on to Paleochora and Agios Nektarios by bus.
It is a free and unassuming visit. It will not dazzle you, but it helps you understand why Aegina, an apparently small island, takes up so many pages in the Greek history books of the nineteenth century.