Piraeus Off The Beaten Path

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Salamis is the largest Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 2 km off-coast from Piraeus and about 16km west of Athens. Due to its roughly crescent shape, the island is also locally known as Koulouri, after the bread roll of this form.
Ajax the Great, was the legendary king of Salamis island.

The Battle of Salamis was a decisive naval battle between the Greek city-states and Persia in 480 BC in the strait between Piraeus and Salamis Island.
The Greeks were not in accord as to how to defend against the Persian army, but Athens under Themistocles used their navy to defeat the much larger Persian navy and force King Xerxes I of Persia to retreat. The Greek victory marked the turning point of the campaign, leading to the eventual Persian defeat.

You may watch my 4 min 06 sec VIDEO-Clip Greece Piraeus-Poros Island cruise from my YouTube channel with Antique music.

You may watch my high resolution photos of Salamis Island on Google Earth in Piraeus according to the following coordinates 37º 55' 9.42" N 23º 36' 53.17" E
or on my Google Earth Panoramio Salamis Island.

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The Saronic Gulf --a microcosm of the Aegean-- is sprinkled with islands, islets, and rocks, adding a unique color to the southern entrance to Athens. You'll pass through a small chain of rocks called "Petrokaravo" or "Rockboat" in English, because the rock chain resembles a small boat.
Petrokaravo is a rocky island 15 meters high. It’s both a visual navaid and a navigation hazard for boats traversing between the Poros straits and Aegina.
Petrokaravo is what's left of an islet that used to be used as shooting target for the navy in the past.

You may watch my high resolution photos of Petrokaravo on Google Earth according to the following coordinates 37º 39' 26.86" N 23º 28' 41.26" E
or on my Google Earth Panoramio Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3.

Aegina lies almost in the center of the Saronic islands and is the closest island to Athens with the exception of Salamina, just a few kilometers away.
Aegina is roughly triangular in shape, approximately 15 km from east to west and 10 km from north to south, with an area of about 87 km².

Two thirds of Aegina constitutes an extinct volcano. The northern and western side consist of stony but fertile plains, which are well cultivated and produce luxuriant crops of grain, with some cotton, vines, almonds, olives and figs, but the most characteristic crop of Aegina today (2000s) is pistachio.

The southern volcanic part of the island is rugged and mountainous, and largely barren. Its highest rise is the conical Mount Oros (531 m) in the south, and the Panhellenian ridge stretches northward with narrow fertile valleys on either side.

You may watch my high resolution photos of Aegina Island on Google Earth in Piraeus according to the following coordinates 37º 46' 12.62" N 23º 37' 43.84" E
or on my Google Earth Panoramio Aegina Island.