Santorini, Greece

We woke up this morning to the beautiful view of the island of Santorini, with the village of Thira perched on a cliff 900 feet above the harbor. On our last visit here 43 years ago, we walked the 550 steps up the visible zig zag path from the harbor to the village at the top. Now it is an easy 5 minute cable car ride!

The most important feature of Santorini is that the harbor is the caldera of a submerged volcano that erupted in 1,650 BC, destroying all inhabitants, and depositing up to 90 feet of ash and debris over the island. It is felt that the destruction of Santorini was related to the myth of Atlantis, since it was very culturally and technically sophisticated and was an advanced trading center  with access to goods from the far east.  The interior of the island that was the volcano emptied its magma and the collapsed, creating the new sea area. The excavation of the Minoan port city of Akrotiri began in 1967 when water eroded the dirt, and remnants of a wall emerged. The current excavation is extensive, and all contained under a weather proof roof. Approximately 35% of the buried city has been excavated, but funding is an issue, so it proceeds at a slow pace.

The first building that was excavated is this one containing many jars full of remnants of foods such as olive, seeds, wine etc. It was thought to be a market of some kind. Since no bodies, and few valuables have been found, it was felt that the people had some warning, possibly due to earthquakes before the huge eruption, and tried to flee to higher ground. Of course they perished anyway due to the severity of the eruption. It would be over 1,000 years before the island was inhabited again. 

This is an example of a two story home which had an indoor toilet on the second floor. There were both fresh water and sewer drains found in the excavation. This home also had extensive murals and wall paintings, which was typical of the more wealthy homes.

This island is also known for its small private chapels with blue domes. Since most men were fishermen, the blue domes represented the blue of the Aegean Sea. The other main industry is the wine business. Since the island is very dry, vines are grown low to the ground, and trained into the shape of a basket, with the grapes growing n the middle, which is an ingenious solution to  conserve water. Honestly, the vines look pretty pathetic at this time of year, but they must know what they are doing!

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