AIAKEION: The Story of a Family That Became Part of Aegina’s Identity
Just a few steps from the port of Aegina stands a pastry shop that, for almost seven decades, has served far more than sweets. It has served memories.
AIAKEION is not simply one of the island’s oldest pastry shops. It is a place that has grown alongside Aegina itself. A meeting point where generations of locals gathered, where visitors made their very first stop upon arriving at the port, and where families created everyday memories that have stood the test of time.
Today, that legacy continues through the third generation of the family, Aleksandros Koukoulis and Michalis Galanis. Respecting AIAKEION’s rich heritage while embracing the future, they strive every day to strike the perfect balance between tradition and the demands of a new era.
We sat down with them to talk about the story behind AIAKEION—the Aegina of decades past, their childhood memories growing up inside the shop, how pistachios became the brand’s signature, the challenges every generation has faced, and their vision for the future.
“Let’s go back to 1958… How was AIAKEION born?”
Today, AIAKEION is synonymous with pistachios, handcrafted sweets, and the history of Aegina. Yet its story did not begin inside a pastry shop. It began with a family already involved in the bakery business and with a remarkable woman who dared to do something exceptionally bold for her time.
Alexandros: Our grandmother, Dimitra known to everyone as Dolly—had a brother who lost his eyesight after a serious motorcycle accident. She wanted to create a business that would provide him with financial security. For a woman in Greece during that era, opening and running her own business was anything but easy. Many people mocked her and doubted she would succeed. But she never gave up.
Michalis: Until 1957, the building where AIAKEION stands today was a grocery store. In 1958, our grandparents, Dolly and Nikolaos, decided to transform the property into a pastry shop. At the same time, they wanted to support our grandfather Nikolaos, who owned a bakery near Agios Nikolaos, allowing him to offer some of his products on Aegina’s busy waterfront, where most of the island’s commercial activity took place. Originally, the shop was called Touristiko (Tourist Shop). Almost immediately after opening, Dolly, always ahead of her time invited some of Athens’ most renowned pastry chefs to Aegina to share their expertise and introduce techniques that were virtually unknown on the island.
Michalis: We started by producing liqueurs and traditional spoon sweets, and shortly afterwards we introduced baked tray desserts. People embraced them almost immediately.
Choosing the shop’s name was equally thoughtful.
Michalis: Our grandfather wanted the business to be closely connected to the history of Aegina. That’s how the name AIAKEION came about, inspired by Aeacus, the mythical king of Aegina.
Nearly seventy years later, three generations of the same family continue to stand behind the counter, carrying forward the vision that began in 1958.
“What was Aegina like back then?”
Talking about AIAKEION’s early years inevitably brings back memories of an Aegina that was very different from today’s island.
Alexandros: The roads were still unpaved. The port operated from the old pier, and the island’s bus stop was directly opposite the shop. Where the OPAP betting agency stands today, there used to be a petrol station, while horses and carts regularly passed along the streets.
Looking back now, it almost feels like a scene from an old Greek film.
Most residents made their living through farming and fishing, while the commercial heart of the island revolved around the harbour. Within this setting, AIAKEION quickly became much more than a pastry shop.
Alexandros: From the very beginning, it became a meeting place. Politicians, artists, intellectuals and thousands of visitors all passed through here. If you went to AIAKEION, you were almost guaranteed to run into someone you knew.
Michalis: Back then, people came to Aegina for one or even two weeks. They truly experienced the island. Today, most visitors stay for just a day or a weekend. The way people travel has changed dramatically.
Yet despite those changes, they both believe Aegina has retained the charm that made it so special in the first place.
Alexandros: In recent years we’ve seen more and more people rediscovering the island—not only because of Saint Nektarios, but also because of its gastronomy, beautiful beaches, fascinating history and the overall experience Aegina offers.
“AIAKEION Was Our Home”
For Alexandros and Michalis, AIAKEION was never just the family business.
It was the place where they grew up.
Alexandros: From morning until night, we were here. We’d drink our juice, go for a swim, leave our towels at the shop, grab an ice cream and head back out on our bicycles. We never saw it as work. It was simply our home.
Michalis: We spent the whole week looking forward to Friday so we could leave Athens and come to Aegina. We couldn’t wait. Many times we’d return to Athens early Monday morning and go straight to school.
Their childhood memories are intertwined not only with the shop itself, but also with the people who became part of their everyday lives.
Alexandros: We grew up alongside people who are still working at AIAKEION today. We’d run around the workshop, play among our grandmother’s copper pots and the old cash registers that we still keep to this day. Even when we arranged to meet our friends, AIAKEION was always our meeting point.
For the people of Aegina, however, AIAKEION was much more than a pastry shop. It became an essential part of the island’s everyday life.
Alexandros: If someone wanted to leave a parcel for a friend, they would leave it here.
Michalis: There were no mobile phones back then. People would call the shop’s landline hoping to find someone or even to ask what was on television that evening.
Alexandros: I remember a gentleman from Nea Smyrni who called us simply to ask what the weather was like in Aegina before deciding whether to visit the island.
Both cousins laugh as they recall these stories. Today they almost sound impossible.
Yet they perfectly capture an era when a neighbourhood pastry shop could become the social heart of an entire island.
“The Third Generation: A Responsibility That Inspires Us Every Day”
Continuing a family business with nearly seventy years of history is much more than a professional choice.
It is a responsibility.
Aleksandros and Michalis know that every decision they make today will become part of AIAKEION’s story tomorrow.
Alexandros: We feel a great sense of responsibility. Our goal is to preserve everything that previous generations entrusted to us while continuing to evolve AIAKEION every single day.
Michalis: (smiling) “And, of course, one day we’d love to pass it on to the fourth generation.
Alexandros: It’s both rewarding and challenging. You’re proud to continue something your own family created, but at the same time you feel the weight of that responsibility. There’s a well-known saying that the first generation builds, the second maintains, and the third destroys.
Every day, we try to prove that saying wrong.”
“Tradition Doesn’t Mean Standing Still”
One of the greatest challenges for the third generation was renovating AIAKEION.
How do you modernise a place that people love precisely because it has remained unchanged for decades?
Alexandros: From the very beginning, we knew we didn’t want to create a modern pastry shop that could be anywhere in the world. We wanted everyone who walked through the door to immediately recognise AIAKEION, to feel they were entering the very same place they remembered, simply in a more contemporary version.
Their grandmother, Dolly, followed every stage of the renovation with great interest.
Michalis: She kept telling us, ‘Don’t touch the light fixtures.’ ‘Don’t move the copper pots.’ At first we laughed, but today we fully understand how important it was for her to preserve the soul of the place.
Many of those original objects remain exactly where they have always been, serving as quiet reminders of the shop’s long history.
The renovation initially worried many of AIAKEION’s loyal customers.
Michalis: People kept telling us, ‘Don’t change anything.’ We heard it constantly, and naturally it made us think carefully about every decision. But once the renovation was completed, most of them told us we had preserved exactly what they had loved for so many years.
The transformation wasn’t limited to the appearance of the shop.
Alexandros: We also changed the way we operate. We replaced pergolas with umbrellas, adapted to new regulations and continued moving forward. Change is simply part of our work.
Today, their philosophy can be summed up in one simple principle.
Alexandros: We don’t believe in dramatic transformations. We believe in small, continuous improvements that, together, make all the difference.
“Pistachios Became Our Signature”
If there is one product that has become inseparably linked with AIAKEION, it is undoubtedly the Aegina pistachio. Not because it was fashionable, but because the family chose to invest in it long before it became internationally celebrated.
Alexandros: The pistachio has always been the fruit that defines Aegina. For us, it was only natural that it should become the heart of our creations. That’s how our signature Fystikato was born—a handcrafted confection made with pistachio paste, caramel and a whole Aegina pistachio. To this day, it remains our most iconic sweet.
AIAKEION’s Legendary Fystikato
Over the years, the pistachio became much more than a key ingredient.
It became the foundation of AIAKEION’s identity.
Michalis: Almost all of our products are inspired by the Aegina pistachio. It’s not enough for us simply to use it we want to showcase its exceptional quality and unique character.
The financial crisis marked a turning point for the business.
Michalis: Until then, we imported products such as pistachio paste and pistachio liqueur from Italy. When circumstances changed, we decided to develop our own recipes. It wasn’t an easy decision, but in hindsight, it proved to be one of the most important choices we ever made.
That decision not only strengthened the business but also paved the way for innovation.
Alexandros: We went on to create eight different pistachio gelato flavours. One of them—our caramelised and salted pistachio gelato received three stars in an international competition.
Michalis: It was a very proud moment for all of us. We didn’t see it simply as an award for a product, but as recognition of the dedication and craftsmanship that goes into everything we create in our workshop.
Despite receiving numerous awards over the years for products of their own production, they both agree that their greatest reward is something much simpler.
Aleksandros: The greatest satisfaction comes when someone tastes one of our products and comes back for it again. At the end of the day, that means far more than any award ever could.
For them, the Aegina pistachio is not simply the island’s most famous product. It is a daily expression of their respect for the place where AIAKEION was born and where its story continues to unfold.
“Every Challenge Made Us Stronger”
In almost seventy years of continuous operation, AIAKEION has experienced countless changes some expected, others completely unforeseen.
For Aleksandros and Michalis, however, every difficult period became an opportunity to rethink the business and discover new possibilities.
Alexandros: The greatest challenge we ever faced was the financial crisis. Until then, we believed that if you worked hard and did things properly, everything would naturally move forward. Suddenly, we found ourselves facing a completely different reality—one that forced us to think differently.
A few years later came another major challenge. The pandemic. While many businesses put everything on hold, AIAKEION chose a different path.
Alexandros: During Covid, we launched our eShop and expanded our wholesale business even further. We didn’t want to simply wait for the crisis to end. Instead, we looked for new ways to reach our customers and in doing so, we opened doors we had never imagined before.
Today, AIAKEION’s products travel far beyond the shores of Aegina.
Michalis: “We now work with businesses throughout Greece as well as abroad, including France, Germany, Romania, Luxembourg and Cyprus. If someone had told us that a few years earlier, we probably wouldn’t have believed them.”
For both cousins, none of this happened by chance.
Michalis: “If there’s one thing we’ve learned over all these years, it’s that you should never become complacent. Every challenge can become an opportunity to grow as long as you’re willing to adapt.”
That same philosophy continues to guide every decision they make.
Rather than constantly chasing something new, they focus on finding meaningful ways to improve AIAKEION while preserving the character that has made it so beloved for generations.
“A Shop Filled with Stories”
Nearly seventy years in business inevitably means thousands of stories. Some are touching. Others are humorous. And some are so extraordinary that they almost sound too good to be true.
Alexandros: Thousands of people have walked through our doors over the years from politicians, artists and intellectuals to visitors who eventually became lifelong friends of AIAKEION. We’ve welcomed personalities such as painter Yannis Moralis, members of the Hermès family, sculptor Costas Varotsos, composer Stavros Xarchakos, Kylie Minogue, and many others. I vividly remember Yannis Moralis saying, ‘Let’s meet at my office, AIAKEION.’ He actually had his own favourite table here, which he jokingly called his office. That says everything about the role AIAKEION played in everyday life on the island.
But some memories belong not just to the shop, but to the whole of Aegina.
Alexandros: I’ll never forget the summer of 2004, when Greece won the UEFA European Championship. The entire waterfront filled with people celebrating, singing and embracing one another. It was an unforgettable sight.
Michalis: I also remember the EuroBasket victory in 1987. I was still very young, but I can clearly remember the incredible atmosphere. As soon as the final whistle blew, the entire island came together right here, outside AIAKEION, celebrating as one big family.
These stories may never appear in history books. Yet they perfectly explain why AIAKEION became much more than a pastry shop. It became part of Aegina’s collective memory.
“The Most Important Thing Is to Leave Something Better Behind”
Despite its long and remarkable history, AIAKEION has never stopped looking towards the future. For Aleksandros and Michalis, tradition is not something to be preserved unchanged—it is a responsibility that must continue to evolve.
“How do you envision AIAKEION in the years to come?”
Alexandros: We have plenty of ideas and exciting plans, but we can’t reveal everything… otherwise they wouldn’t be secrets anymore! What I can say is that we want to keep evolving while staying true to who we are and never losing our identity.
One of the projects already underway is closely connected to AIAKEION’s own history.
Alexandros: We’re restoring AIAKEION’s original white Volkswagen T2 van and transforming it into a mobile gelato shop. We want it to travel to festivals and events, bringing the name of AIAKEION to even more people, far beyond Aegina.
For the two cousins, however, their greatest ambition isn’t about new ideas or future investments. It’s about the next generation.
Michalis: We hope the fourth generation will inherit a business that’s even stronger than the one we inherited. If we can achieve that, we’ll know we’ve done our job well.
Aleksandros couldn’t agree more.
Alexandros: Every generation adds its own small contribution. That’s how history moves forward.
As you leave AIAKEION, one feeling stays with you. Its true strength doesn’t lie only in its award-winning sweets or its long history. It lies in its people. In a family that, for almost seventy years, has grown alongside Aegina itself, keeping alive a story that belongs not only to them, but also to everyone who has ever stepped inside the island’s beloved pastry shop by the port.
AIAKEION’s Timeless Classics – And the Family’s Personal Favourites
Since 1958, certain creations have remained unchanged and continue to define AIAKEION’s identity.
Fystikato
AIAKEION’s historic signature sweet, handcrafted one by one with pistachio paste, caramel and a whole Aegina pistachio.
Fystikini
Pistachio Baklava Bites
Traditional Almond Cookies (Amygdalota)
Pistachio Kourabiedes
One of the pastry shop’s newest creations and an award-winning product.
Pistachio Gelato
Available in eight different flavours, including the internationally awarded Caramelised Salted Pistachio Gelato.
Which Sweet Would They Choose?
Alexandros finds it difficult to pick just one.
Alexandros: We try to give the same level of care and attention to every single product we create, so it’s genuinely difficult to choose. But if I had to pick just one, I’d say our gelato.
Michalis doesn’t need much time to think.
Michalis: Fystikato. It’s our signature creation and probably the most demanding one to make because every single piece is still handcrafted. Since I was a child, I remember the people in our workshop wearing thick protective gloves because the caramel is extremely hot and the entire process requires great precision. For me, no other sweet represents the story of AIAKEION better than Fystikato.
Little Stories You May Not Know…
- Saint Nektarios himself gave Holy Communion to the family’s grandfather—a deeply personal memory that remains alive within the family to this day.
- The very first espresso ever served in Aegina was prepared at AIAKEION. After a trip to Italy, the family decided to introduce a coffee that was still virtually unknown in Greece at the time.
- The first batches of AIAKEION’s gelato were made using large blocks of ice. Before modern refrigeration systems existed, the ice was transported to the shop by horse-drawn cart.
- Local dairy farmers used to bring their milk to AIAKEION for pasteurisation. The workshop had the necessary equipment and provided this service not only for its own production but also for other milk producers across the island.