Akrotiri

Akrotiri archeological site is the most important site in  Santorini and the one that is best preserved in the Aegean Sea. The excavations started in the  XIX century by the French archeologists Gorceix and Mamet, then they were carried on by the German baron von Gaertringen (who discovered  Ancient Thera ruins in the same period) and then by  Christous Doumas.

Akrotiri prehistoric town culminated in the Late Minoic IA (1550-1500 B.C.), then it was destroyed due to the eruption of the volcano that buried it under layers of pumice stone. This contributed to retain the buildings almost intact and the amazing frescos that today are displayed in the National Archeological Museum in Athens.

In Akrotiri lots of pottery was found, both local and Cretan or from Argo area.

But Akrotiri is world known for painting and frescos found on the walls of the buildings, like the blue monkeys, le antilopes, the boxeurs, the fishermen, the papirus.

Today, not far away from the archeological site, about 12 km south-west from Thera, there is the modern village of Akrotiri, overlooked by a Venetian medieval castle pulled down under the Turkish rule, and its ruins are still visible.