Santorini

Renowned as the "black pearl of the Aegean", Santorini is one of the most magnificent island of the Mediterranean Sea, with its breathtaking landscapes and the enchanting view of the Caldera. It is situated in the middle of the Aegean Sea, in the Cyclades Cluster and it has a surface of 96 km2.

On the western side you will face the deep blue sea of the Caldera, surrounding the Volcano, from a steep coastline dotted by dazzling white houses with light blue windows and tiny churches with their tipical round roof. The Caldera cliffs vary from 150 to 350 m over the sea.

On the eastern side the sight is completely different: the western cliffs gradually slope down to the sea. There are plenty beautiful beaches, both sandy like Monolithos or with peebles like Kamari.

One of the most amazing spectacle you can assist in the island is the sunset over the Caldera from the small typical village of Oia. It's really an experience you may not forget for the rest of your life!

During the ages the island has been named in many different ways: Stronghyle (this is the name Erodotus refers to it, due to its formerly round shape), Kalliste (that means the most beautiful), Thera (that now is the name of the actual main town). The French geologyst F. Fouqué called it "the Pompei of the Aegean", referring to the huge volcanic expolsion that took place in the XVI century B.C.

Santorini infact is still regarded as one of the most likely candidate for the mythical Atlantis.
The dating of the volcanic eruption is still uncertain but it is includerd in a time range between 1650 and 1500 B.C.
There are no written reports about the catastrophe, but it seems that a big earthquake caused the awakening of the then dormant volcano. At that time the island was called Stronghyle owing to its round shape, with the volcanic cone at the centre reaching an elevation of about 1000 m over the sea and a diameter of about 15 km. The inhabitants of the island had enough time to run away carrying with them therir goods (no skeletons or jewelry have been found in the ruins of Akrotiri, the main archeological site of the island). Maybe the eruption took place after about one year from the main earthquake (the seeds had the time to sprout in the meanwhile, in the ruins of the house, before the eruption). The whole island was then buried under a 30 meters layer of pumice stone and basalt. The central part of Stronghyle collapsed with the volcanic cone, and about 83 km2 of the island gave way into an abyss 800 m deep soon covered by the sea: the Caldera.
In the thirties of last century, the Greek archeologyst Spyridoon Marinatos, after having found pumice stones in Crete (that is about 70 nautical miles away from Santorini), deduced that the dramatic end of  Minoan civilization was caused by the eruption of the volcano in Santorini with its catastrophic effects and the huge waves of tsunami.

From then till 1950, in almost 3500 years, there happened 14 further eruptions of the volcano: in 197 B.C the island of palea Kameni came out; in 1573 it appeared Nea Kameni, the today's volcano.

But how is Santorini linked with the Atlantis myth?
Plato mentions Atlantis civilization in his Dialogues: Timaeus (21E-25D) and Critias (108E-121C). He refers to the lost continent as a very advanced and mighty one that had riled most of the lands that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea, from Lybia to Egypt.
Founded by Poseidon himself, the god of sea, it  started to decay and the gods of the Olympus decided to destroy it.
So there was a strong earthquake and floodings and the island collapsed in the deep blue sea.
So it is plain that the stories of the two islands resemble each other in many points. Is really Santorini the ancient Atlantis? Who knows. But with its beauties it could deserve the fascination of the myth.

After the eruption, Erodotus tells us that the Phoenician settled there and gave it the name of Kalliste, the most beautiful.
Then Santorini was inhabited by Boeotians and then Dorians with their leader Theras. Since then the island was named Thera in his honour.

It's only in 1153 A.C. that the island is called for the first time Santorini, in the writings of an Arab geographer, Edrisi: the crusader were inspired by the name of a small church, Haghia Irini (Saint Irini), located in the island.

From then on many dominations followed one another: from the Crusaders, to the Venetians, the Franks, the Turks. However now the island combines the relaxing athmosphere of the traditional Greek villages with the cosmopolitan character of one of the most touristic place in the Cyclades.