The beautiful name Aegean, as the legend says, the sea received on behalf of King Aegeus. He, thinking that the Minotaur had killed his son Theseus, could not bear the loss and threw himself off the cliff into the blue waters. Another version of the origin of the name is less tragic. Some believe that it comes from the ancient Greek "ayges", meaning "wave". Another version says that the sea is named after the ancient city of Egeus, once located on the island of Euboea.
In general, there are a lot of large inhabited and small uninhabited islands in the Aegean Sea. Some number more than 3000 of them. The most famous and largest are Rhodes, Crete, Naxos, Chios, Metilini, Samos, Santorini.
But despite such abundance, shipping here is one of the most developed in the world. Ships follow strictly laid routes, not deviating even an inch.
Sometimes they lie like thisclose to the islands that, sitting on the deck, you can see the breaks in the rocks or small stones on the shore. But it is extremely rare for ships to run aground in this area.
The Aegean Sea has different depths. In the southern part there are pits up to 2500 meters. But on average, the depth of the sea is 200-1000 meters. In summer, the wave here is calm, rarely rises to 4-5 points. In autumn, and especially in winter, storms are 8-9 points and higher. There have been times when a strong storm has thrown ships aground and destroyed the coastline of the islands.
Once the Aegean Sea washed the shores of Byzantium, the Bulgarian kingdom, the Ottoman and Latin empires, Ancient Rome, ancient Greece. Now there are only two countries, Greece and Turkey, between which the conflict will not subside in any way, who will be in charge in the local waters. Greece has two major international ports here - in Thessaloniki and in Athens. Turkey has one port - Izmir.
In addition to shipping, the Aegean Sea is famous for its fishing. Hundreds of tons of fish, squid, octopus, stingrays, crabs, lobsters, shrimps, sea urchins and other representatives of the marine fauna are caught here. There is also a developed trade for the collection of sponges and decorative shells. Due to the fact that the amount of plankton in this region has decreased, fish have also been caught less in recent years. In order to prevent its numbers from declining, fishing is allowed here only in certain months. January 6 is the Day of Light in Greece. At the same time, in order for the coming season to be successful for the fishermen, the clergy consecrate the Aegean Sea. greece holyhonors this ancient custom and celebrates it very widely.
The tourism business on the islands and the sea coast is excellently developed. A huge number of hotels, beautiful embankments with restaurants and shops have been built here, there are water parks, surfing and diving centers. Each inhabited island has one or more ports. Tourists love the Aegean. The water temperature here, however, does not indulge. Almost everywhere it rises to 22 degrees Celsius only in summer. Even in May, in many regions it barely reaches +19 degrees. It approaches the same mark in October.
The Aegean Sea overtook the Black Sea in salinity. Therefore, the density is high here. Swimming is easy, the water all the time seems to push the human body to the surface. But after bathing, be sure to rinse off the s alt with fresh water.
For tourists, not only beach holidays, but also sightseeing holidays are organized here. There is a wonderful museum island in the Aegean Sea. It's called Delos. Scientists have established that civilization flourished here long before the construction of the Athenian Acropolis. In addition to Delos, the inhabited islands, especially Mykonos, are of great interest. Hollywood celebrities like to relax here. In general, in the Aegean Sea, all the islands are beautiful, you can relax here wonderfully.
