Discover Santorini of the Past
The History of Santorini
More than an exotic destination (although it very much is that too!) Santorini is also a place with a long and varied history, dating back to the Bronze Age. The traces left behind in the passing of the years, glimpses of a blossoming and resilient civilization that learned to live in harmony with an active volcano, erased and rebuilt, then erased and rebuilt again are found on display all over the island, for visitors to discover.
Let’s take a small trip down Santorini’s history:
Santorini has been around for a while; since the prehistoric age to be exact. Eons before it assumed the crescent moon shape it’s famous for today, Santorini was called Stroggyli, which can be directly translated as “Round”, a reference to the shape it had before the massive eruption of its volcano in 1646 BC created the caldera. In fact, its eruption was so impactful and so well known in antiquity that even Plato himself mentions it in his works, more than a 1000 years later.
There’s good reason for that: the explosion is said to be one of the largest ever to occur in human history, equivalent to the eruption of 40 atomic bombs and almost 100 times more powerful than that of Pompeii (think about that for a moment.) As a result, the centre of the island sunk into the sea and Santorini was forever changed.
This catastrophic event buried the ancient town of Akrotiri in ashes. The story of Akrotiri and the lives of its inhabitants remains lost to history and the world for more than 3,500 years, until the city was unearthed by archaeologists in the second half of the 19th century, with the excavations continuing well into the 20th.
What they revealed was a thriving ancient city whose secrets and everyday lives were perfectly preserved by the very thing that destroyed them: volcanic ash. What they also revealed was that thankfully, the inhabitants of the island had mostly managed to escape with their lives and their valuables as few precious artifacts were found, and no human remains. What was found instead was a snapshot of ancient life revealed by everyday artifacts and a number of world-famous frescoes of vibrant, unique beauty: The Boxers, the Fisherman, the Lilies and more.
Of course, this was not the only volcanic eruption that occurred throughout the years (although one can argue it was the most spectacular one). In fact, the Santorini Caldera is now facing a group of small volcanic islands (Thirassia, Aspronisi, Palea Kameni, Nea Kameni and Mikra Kameni) which all surfaced from eruptions dating from 97 BC to as recently as 1925 AD.
Apart from the shape of the island, its name also went through various changes. In 1300 BC, the Phoenicians arrived with their ships and called the island "Kallisti" (“Most Beautiful”). In 1115 BC, Dorians from Sparta arrived, and they too gave it a new name: “Thira”, after the name of their King (fun fact: this is still its official name). Finally, the Francs had their turn in naming the island and called it Santorini (a contraction of Santa Irini).
