Romantic, breathtaking, and unforgettable, Santorini is one of the most beautiful islands, featuring cliffs that overlook the southern Aegean Sea. Its stunning whitewashed architecture and blue-domed churches are particularly impressive. Standing in the middle of the villages and doing a 360-degree turn is picturesque at every angle.

Santorini comprises a group of islands: Thira, Thirassia, Aspronissi, Palea, and New Kameni, located in the southern part of the Cyclades. The average temperature in Santorini reaches the low 80s in July and August. 

To get around the island

There are various ways to explore the island, including donkeys, bikes, hiking, and rental cars. Additionally, Santorini offers several unique Mediterranean dishes, and the island’s tomatoes are deliciously sweet. Moreover, there are distinctive clothing stores and souvenir shops. Not to mention, the people are friendly and gracious.

Santorini history

According to Britannica, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the first people to inhabit the island in the 13th century B.C. were the Phoenicians, who named the island Kallisti, meaning “most beautiful.” A century later, the Dorians from Sparta settled and renamed the island Thera after their king. Additionally, the people on the island adopted the Phoenician alphabet, which was written for Greek.

The great volcanic eruption

The Island of Thera, known as Santorini, was destroyed by a volcanic eruption followed by a tsunami 3,600 years ago in the Aegean Sea. According to National Geographic, a paper published in 2021 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences uncovered the evidence through an international team of researchers.

The volcanic eruption has an explosive index categorizing it as a seven out of eight. It was the most destructive event in human history. Without a doubt, researchers described the detonation of millions of Hiroshima-type bombs.

According to researchers, numerous scholars believe that the Bronze Age event of 1600 B.C. is referenced in Plato’s allegory of the sunken city of Atlantis, written thousands of years later. This catastrophic event is also reflected in the biblical Ten Plagues.

Today, Akrotiri, a Minoan town on the Greek island of Santorini that was buried by a volcano, is a popular tourist attraction similar to Pompeii.

Apart from this, the wealthy maritime Minoans on the nearby island of Crete disappeared around the same time in the 15th century B.C., following the Thera eruption and subsequent tsunami. Modern researchers have yet to uncover evidence of what happened to them.

In 2009, archaeologist Vasif Sahoglu of Turkey’s Ankara University uncovered collapsed fortification walls, layers of ash, and numerous pottery, bone, and marine shells at the Cesme-Baglararasi excavation site. The famous resort town of Cesme, located on Turkey’s Aegean coast, is 100 miles from Santorini.

Sahoglu contacted peers with various specialties to understand his findings, including reaching out to Beverly Goodman-Tchernov, a professor of marine geosciences at Israel’s University of Haifa, a National Geographic Explorer, and an expert in identifying tsunamis in archaeological and geological records.

According to these archaeologists, investigating evidence of collapsed buildings and fires destroyed by earthquakes, floods, and storms is challenging due to the rapid decay of evidence in environments such as the Aegean coast.

With Thera’s eruption followed by a tsunami roaring through the Aegean Sea, evidence has been found as far away as Greenland’s ice sheets and California’s bristlecone pines. Furthermore, six physical sites from its impact have been identified, although they have yet to be confirmed, such as the Cesme-Baglararasi dig.

No victims are a mystery

“How does one of the worst natural disasters in history have no victims?” Şahoğlu asks.

Researchers remain puzzled by the Thera eruption, with no evidence of victims. They estimate that more than 35,000 people died—only one man was found during a late 19th-century investigation, buried under the rubble of the Santorini Archipelago. According to the researcher’s latest paper, they suspect he may have been an earthquake victim.

The theory posits that there were no victims from the earlier eruption; the people could have fled the area. Alternatively, victims may have been disintegrated by the extremely heated gases, lost at sea, drowned, or mass graves have yet to be found and investigated.

Goodman-Tchernov speculates that researchers may not have recognized tsunami deposits in past investigations that could have been identified in victims but failed to make the connection.

The first victim found at the Cesme-Baglararasi dig was a healthy young man who had suffered blunt force trauma and was discovered in the rubble of a tsunami deposit. Nearby, a dog skeleton was located in a collapsed doorway. Additionally, a grain of barley was found near the remains, with radiocarbon dating back to 1612 B.C.

According to the researchers, some outside experts still have specific questions about its methodology while investigating new data that reveal its chronology issue, which still needs to be resolved with the Cesme-Baglararasi dig.

After its catastrophic event, Santorini was rebuilt with a unique architectural style. The village’s whitewashed houses and blue-domed churches are constructed with volcanic dust, black igneous rock, red rock, pumice stone, and pathways throughout the town.

Architecture

The architecture of these homes is known as cave houses or Yposkafa. The home’s foundation is excavated from volcanic rock, with the upper walls constructed above ground to house a sunlight-facing living room. Its bedrooms and traditional kitchen are located in the back, complete with a fireplace; the bathroom is outside the house.

Must-see tourist attractions

The Island’s attraction lies in the five fortified castles built to protect it from invasion between the 14th and 18th centuries, alongside the ruins on the edge of the caldera cliff.

Amoudi Bay is a small, busy port below Oia, featuring an array of fresh seafood restaurants, a scenic view, crystal-clear waters, and boats sailing throughout the day. Famous attractions include the volcano, swimming in the hot springs, hiking the caldera cliffs, and walking along the beaches. Another highlight is the sunset cruises.

Skaros Rock is a large rock formation extending into the caldera in the northwestern part of Santorini. If you are up for a hike from Imerovigli, its 10-kilometer trail offers spectacular views in just 30 minutes.

Art Space Santorini is a beautiful place for art and wine lovers. Its gallery is located on the way to Kamari in Argyros Canava and is one of the oldest wineries on the island. The walls of the wine caverns display paintings and sculptures by 30 contemporary Greek artists. One artist from Santorini produces the wine under the Art Space wine labels.