when we visited aegina the first time, and stopped by the monastery of agios (saint) nektarios, we noticed some small churches on the adjacent hill. on our second visit, we again saw the churches from the side of the road, sitting above the groves of pistachio trees, so we decided to climb up and see what was there. paleochora (literally, “old town”) was the capitol of aegina for about a millennium, from the ninth to the 19th century. the residents of aegina island retreated up the hill to avoid centuries of repeated pirate raids, including an attack in 1537 by…