Santorini, officially Thira, is an island ( 73 km2) in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a caldera.
The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption which occurred about 3,600 years ago. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of metres deep. It may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km to the south, through a gigantic tsunami.
Denise flew-in and joined me for a week: this is our hotel
Fira is a city of white-washed houses built on the edge of the 400 metres high caldera on the western edge of the semi-circular island of Thera.
Access to Fira is mainly by roads on its eastern side, climbing from its port via the Z-shaped footpath on foot or on donkeys, or by riding the steep cable car from its lower terminal by the port.
From Fira there is a panoramic view of the 18 kilometres (11 miles) long caldera from southern Cape Akrotiri to northern Cape Ag. Nikolaos, plus the volcanic island Nea Kameni at the center with Thirassia Island.
To the South Cap and Lighthouse
Day trip to volcano and hot springs
A few old stones and beaches...
Oia was previously known as Apäno Meria ("upper side"), a name which still occurs locally as Pano Meria,[6] and the inhabitants are still called Apanomerites.
Oia reached the peak of prosperity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its economic prosperity was based on its merchant fleet, which plied trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially from Alexandria to Russia. The two-story captains' houses built on the highest part of the village are a reminder of the village's former affluence. Part of the town was destroyed by the 1956 earthquake.
Continue your journey :
- 1/2 - Crete : Western part of the island is here
- 2/2 - Crete : Heraklion and Eastern part of the island is here
- Islands of the Dodecanese is here
- Central Greece and Corfu island is here
- For lovers of archeological sites... i.e."old stones" is here
- On the road and in town, drink and food, campsites is here