Fri, Sep 28th 2007, 00:00
The island of Santorini is the epitome of the mysterious beauty of the Greek Islands. The fascinating white and blue architecture of the romantic villages of Fira and Oia feature on almost every tourist brochure and postcard.
Santorini towns were rebuilt after a major earthquake in 1956; still impossibly perched on the Santorini cliff tops as they have always been (to escape pirates and the summer heat).
It is the forces of nature that have shaped fascinating Santorini – volcanoes. Near the quiet village of Akrotiri is the destination of tourists from all over the world. Could the ruins lying buried under layers of volcanic ash be the lost city of Atlantis? The first trace of this ancient city was discovered by French archaeologists after yet another eruption of the volcano in 1866.
Early in the Late Bronze Age, the volcano at the centre of Santorini erupted on a scale which has had no parallel since. The caldera (or crater) created by this eruption is said to have measured as much as 83 square kilometres in area. The absence of any bodies or artefacts in the ruins of Akrotiri indicate that the inhabitants must have had ample warning of the eruption which was to bury the island so deep in volcanic debris that it was uninhabitable for centuries after.
From the top of the Akrotiri village you can look out the island, view the caldera of the volcano and rolling fields of grapevines. The island lies dotted with ruins, from the remnants of Ancient Thira on a mountain between the beaches at Kamari and Perissa, to other Hellenistic and Roman civilizations. These days the towns of Kamari and Perissa, with their black sand beaches, lure sun worshippers from all over the globe.
The island of Nea Kamini lies in the centre of the bay which emerged in 1707. Next to it is the older island of Palia Kamini where you can take hot mud baths. Across the bay is the island of Thirasia which is actually the far rim of the volcano. You can reach these islands by excursion boats.
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