GREECE
Santorini, 1470 BC e.

The catastrophic eruption of the Santorini volcano in the Aegean Sea occurred in the summer of 1470 BC. e. Experts believe that it was it that caused the 4 main prehistoric events described by Plato and confirmed by the Bible.

These are the following events. Disappearing within one night of Atlantis. Parted Red Sea. The thickened night that allowed the sons of Israel to come out of Egypt. The disappearance of the Minoan culture.

According to the theory of the director of the seismological laboratory of the University of Athens, Professor George A. Galanopoulos, all these legendary events are connected by one catastrophic cause - the extraordinary eruption of the Santorini volcano, located in the Aegean Sea, 200 kilometers southeast of Athens and 110 kilometers north of the island of Crete .

Santorini (distorted medieval Italian "Saint-Iren" - patron saint volcanic island Thira) is one of a group of volcanoes in the Aegean Sea, which form an arc that bordered the former land mass. According to the theory of Dr. Galanopoulos, the first underground explosions of Santorin occurred in the Pleistocene era, after which the dome of the volcano grew, along with other domes located nearby, up to 1615 meters above sea level.

Obviously, this build-up occurred without much incident. But in the summer of 1470 B.C. Santorini erupted with incredible force, enough to grind its summit into dust, bring down the slopes of nearby volcanic mountains and throw it into the atmosphere over the islands mediterranean sea, especially Crete, and partly Egypt, a monstrous geyser of molten rocks. After a giant explosion, an area of ​​​​200,000 square kilometers was completely covered with volcanic ash. The concentration of gases in the atmosphere was so high that clouds of ash covered the sun. to Egypt and eastern part A darkness descended on the Mediterranean Sea that lasted several days, and possibly weeks.

The caldera (depression formed by a volcanic explosion) of Santorina was huge - three times the size of the caldera of the Krakatoa volcano. According to Plato and Dr. Galanopoulos, before the eruption, the lost colony of Atlantis was located on the island.

During the explosion of Santorini in 1470 BC. The civilization of the mythical empire of Atlantis was destroyed. Everything that could survive sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.

Legend and reality complement each other here. First, although Santorini initially erupted and was active enough to "grow" to a height of 1615 meters, then he probably stopped his activity for a period that was enough for civilization to arise on the top of the volcano. Secondly, the area of ​​the summit of the volcano was approximately 80 square kilometers. This is not enough for a large civilization, but it is quite suitable for such as Athens or Sparta. They were used for comparison in those days.

The history of Atlantis - an island empire that sank within one day - is told by Plato in the introductory part of the Timaeus and in more detail in the work Critias. The story is attributed to Critias, an Athenian politician from the entourage of Socrates. Critias, in turn, heard it as a ten-year-old boy from his 90-year-old grandfather. He also heard it from his father, a friend of Solon, the founder of Athenian democracy.

It seems that Solon was a progressive and free thinker. He relied on "illegal agreements" when it came to individual freedom. For this he was exiled for 10 years in Egypt. There, from the priests of Sais, one of the ancient cities in the Nile Delta, he learned the history of an island empire that was larger than Libya and Western Asia combined and located behind the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar). 9000 years ago, this empire disappeared under water in one day.

Some historians have two questions. The first is the relatively small area of ​​the Santorini caldera, which supposedly housed a mythical civilization; the second is in relation to the figure "9000 years" recorded by Solon. But in 1956, Dr. Galanopoulos, studying the remnants of a strong earthquake on the island of Thera, concluded that the number "9000" is a distorted figure "900". It's just that, along with other misinterpretations of the historical record, the decimal was misplaced. As a result, "900" turned out to be "9000".

Thus, according to Galanopoulos, the disappearance of Atlantis and the eruption of Santorini coincide in time. "Correcting" further the error in the decimal fraction, the scientist divided the area of ​​​​the territory of Libya and Western Asia by 10 and received the area of ​​​​the Santorini caldera.

This interesting version. But the suggestion that the Santorini eruption destroyed Atlantis is only one fourth of the intriguing story. The disappearance of the first real civilization in the Mediterranean - the Minoan culture - which developed on the island of Crete and the adjacent islands, also occurred around 1400 BC. At the same time, the Mycenaean civilization appeared in southern Greece, which repeated the Minoan traditions.

It would be logical to assume (as the Irish scientist C. W. Frost did in 1939 in the newspaper article "Critias and Minoan Crete", as well as the Greek archaeologist S. Marinatos, who excavated the Minoan culture in Crete), that the Minoan civilization was not destroyed foreign invaders, but was buried under a layer of pumice during a giant natural disaster. Which? Santorini eruptions 120 kilometers north of Crete.

Dr. Galanopoulos explored the shaft after the 1956 earthquake and discovered the ruins of a stone house, where he found two small pieces of wood and the remains of human teeth; carbon analysis attributed the age of the finds to about 1400 BC. The conclusions of Dr. Galanopoulos and Dr. Marinatos are that the giant tsunamis caused by the Santorini eruption destroyed much of the Minoan civilization. The survivors moved to Greece, where they founded the Mycenaean culture. Such a conclusion is credible: in the region around Greece, tsunamis occurred quite often, so the theory may turn out to be correct. (There are records of huge waves after the earthquakes that partially flooded the city of Alexandria in Egypt - 365 - and the southeast coast of the island of Amorgos, which is about 65 kilometers southeast of Santorini, in 1956.)

And if that's not enough, the findings of these two scientists are supported by French engineers who built the Suez Canal in the 19th century. For the production of cement, which was used in the construction of the canal, volcanic ash was taken from the island of Thira. Under the thickness of the ashes, the remains of a clearly pre-Greek civilization were discovered. But it was impossible to determine her age at that time.

But enough about Atlantis and Minoa. Galanopoulos, inspired by his discoveries, began to think about other consequences of this monstrous eruption.

Developing a version of the tsunami, he used it to explain the biblical myth of the "parting waters" of the Red Sea, which allowed the sons of Israel to escape from the pharaoh's army pursuing them. According to Professor Galanopoulos, the fact of the “parting water” is caused by the retreat of the sea half an hour (or so) before the tsunami hit. It was at this time that it was possible to expose a large area seabed close to the coast.

This becomes credible if you pay attention to the fact that the date 1450 BC. commonly referred to by Bible scholars as the date of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Noticing this, Professor Galanopoulos also concluded that the darkness that descended, sent down by the Lord to force Pharaoh to let the sons of Israel go, was the same volcanic cloud that plunged the whole this region after a volcanic eruption. The Bible describes it this way: “And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand to heaven, and there will be darkness in the land of Egypt, palpable darkness. Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was thick darkness over all the land of Egypt for three days” (Exodus 10:21-22).

Taking into account the fact that complete darkness lasted 22 hours at a distance of 209 kilometers from the Krakatoa volcano after its eruption in 1883 and 57 hours at a distance of 80 kilometers, it is likely that in 1470 BC. darkness remained over Egypt for at least three days.

Thus, four legends from four sources may well be based on one destructive explosion. The one that was completely unusual, perhaps the most significant not only in its reality, but also in its influence on the history of our world, on its legends, civilization, and creeds.

On the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea there is a volcano of the same name called Santorini. Now a small trace remains of it, an ancient caldera, and earlier there was a huge cone of a volcano here:

Santorini is an active shield volcano on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, the eruption of which led to the death of the Aegean cities and settlements on the islands of Crete, Thira and the Mediterranean coast. The eruption dates from 1645-1600 BC. e. (according to various estimates).

The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, massive pyroclastic flows and a tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely devastated its insides, after which its cone, unable to withstand its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, where sea waters poured after it. The resulting giant wave with a height of about 18 meters (in wikipedia, the data is up to 100m) swept through the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all the settlements on the islands Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other countries of the Mediterranean Sea, suspending the development of mankind for a long thousand years.

After the eruption of Santorini, many other events took place in the center of the resulting caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today, Santorini shows constant seismic activity, and some of its islands still have fumaroles and hydrothermal vents.

The largest in ancient history Minoan eruption on the island of Thira, or Fira, occurred in 1628 BC. e. (dendrochronological date). The next - the most powerful - happened in 1380 BC. e. (date approximate). The last one happened in 1950.

As far as I heard, dendrochronology can compare the dates of events only a few hundred years ago. There are simply no thousand-year-old trees in the right amount in the right place.

Geologists have figured out how the explosion of a supervolcano caused a "great flood" in Crete

Before the eruption of the supervolcano, the modern Santorini archipelago was a single island. Scientists have found that the eruption occurred almost instantly by geological standards - in just 100 years, the magma chamber under the island was filled with "fresh" molten rocks, which heated up local magma reserves, forced it to expand and literally tear the island apart.

An unusual "channel" in the northwestern part of the archipelago, which scientists discovered under water, told them about what happened to the island and the surrounding ocean during the eruption and in the first days after the disaster.

For example, the unusually deep walls of this channel and its structure indicated that the walls of the supervolcano on the island of Santorin collapsed even before sea water burst into its exploding vent. This means that the tsunami, which was supposedly caused by the destruction of the island and the fall of its "debris" into the Aegean Sea, was born in a completely different way.

Scientists have no doubt that this tsunami really existed - traces of sea water and sand in the Minoan palaces of Crete clearly testify to its occurrence, where it could only get if the wave height near the coast exceeded ten meters.

Traces of this event, scientists have found in the center of the former mouth of the volcano, and a few hundred meters from the shores of the archipelago.

As the analysis of rocks in the central part showed former island, in the first stages of the eruption, part of Santorini exploded due to the fact that in the central part of the island there was a lagoon with sea ​​water, which became the first "victim" of hot magma rising from the bowels of the Earth. This explosion led to the fact that the southern part of the already former island was literally instantly flooded with powerful outpourings of magma, whose volume exceeded 16 cubic kilometers.

They eventually "slid" into the Aegean Sea, covering the bottom of southern shores Santorini with a 60-meter layer of new rocks, and caused a powerful tsunami, the height of the waves of which near the former island exceeded 35 meters, decreasing to about ten meters already when they reached the coast of Crete.

Almost immediately after that, the walls of the volcano collapsed, after which the sea broke through the "dam" of volcanic ash, which formed near the northeast channel at the bottom of the modern sea. Its waters began to fill the resulting basin, completely filling it with water in just 40 minutes, if the depth of the channel was the same as today. Such a rapid course of such geological disasters, as scientists note, suggests that supervolcanoes, especially their island varieties, should be given special attention.

As you can see, scientists and historians laid the death of the Minoan civilization on this (in the past) volcano. They say that it was destroyed by a flood, a tsunami from an eruption.

Irregularly shaped failure of the cone of the volcano.

Looks like a flooded quarry

Lime hills adjacent to tuff

central island

Santorini is part of the Cyclades Islands

List of minerals that are available on the islands:

But there are no analyzes of samples for metals.

I propose to see the excavations and the remains of the structure of the Mole-Minoan culture, which was destroyed by this volcano:

According to the first signs, the territory is quite far from the sea, respectively, higher than 10m above it

The fact that it was destroyed by a flood, a mudflow is beyond doubt among archaeologists. But could a 10m high wave reach these buildings? If the volume of water was large, then its inertia could drag mudflow here too.

Excavations of this complex from above

In the process of excavation

After. Already glued and restored jugs

It is possible that the entire Mediterranean coast suffered from this cataclysm. And traces of destruction and flood on its entire coast are the consequences of this event.

Since ancient times, volcanoes have attracted and at the same time frightened our ancestors. Most people, when they hear the word "volcano" imagine high mountain cone-shaped, which periodically spews tons of ash and lava into the sky. However, this is only one of many types of volcanoes found in nature - there are also underwater, fissure and dome-shaped structures that differ not only in shape, but also in behavior.

Greece is home to over half a dozen majestic volcanoes - some active, others dormant. If you are looking for a place for an unforgettable summer vacation and memorable adventures, then a trip to one of them will be a great option. Breathtaking views, clear water and a variety of natural landscapes distinguish volcanic resorts from the rest of Greece.

The volcano of the same name on the Santorini Islands is one of the most famous not only in Greece, but throughout the world. In 1600 B.C. e. its most powerful eruption occurred, as a result of which the city of Akrotiri was completely destroyed, and only 3 remained of the large archipelago of islands - Thira, Therazia And Aspronisi. Historians believe that the legends of this natural disaster could form the basis of stories about Atlantis.

Thira Island, which became the epicenter of the eruption, since ancient times belonged to the Cretans, who were skilled sailors and traders. On the very slope of the mountain they built their capital, and at the foot of the island - a harbor for the merchant fleet. In 1628 B.C. e. a strong earthquake began on the island, which forced the inhabitants of the island to leave their homes and sail away from Tyra. A few hours later, a column of black smoke began to escape from the mouth of the volcano, and lava flows covered the slopes of the mountain. A powerful explosion tore apart the peak, and the shock wave caused a strong tsunami that wiped out coastal settlements and the harbor with the remnants of the fleet. central part islands under its own weight fell into the depths of the sea, forming a large lagoon with steep banks.

Last time Santorini volcano woke up in 1950, but this eruption was only a faint echo of the Minoan catastrophe. The depleted bowels of the volcano are unlikely to ever harm people, but serve as a good reminder of the vulnerability of human civilization.

Total for Methana peninsula there are more than 30 small volcanoes, but the largest of them stands out noticeably in the relief. Volcanic activity here began more than 1 million years ago, and the last recorded eruption occurred about 300 years ago. In 1922, seismologists predicted a new eruption, but this event never happened.

Near the volcano there are many hot springs and gas emissions are observed, which indicates its deep activity. Historians believe that it is with the sources of underground gases that the cult of the ancient Greek seers, the Pythia, is associated. According to studies, some constituents of gases tend to oversaturate the human body with harmful substances, causing oxygen starvation and hallucinations, which people of antiquity take as prophecies of the gods.

Methana Peninsula It has been inhabited by people since about 10 millennium BC. e. The first formed settlements that bore traces of civilization appeared here in the 6th millennium BC. e. Excavations carried out here in different time, discovered ancient shrines and art objects dating back to 1500-1200 BC. e.

In the works of Ovid, Strabo and Pausanias, one can find reliable descriptions of the eruption of several volcanoes in the northwestern part of the peninsula. In addition, they mention gas and hot water Methane sources. Today, Methana is famous not only for its beautiful volcanic landscapes, but also for its healing mud and thermal waters.

Milos Island, which is part of a volcanic island arc, is known throughout the world thanks to the discovery of a statue of Venus or Aphrodite de Milo. There is also an ancient volcano, the last strong eruption of which dates back to the period of 90,000 BC. e. During Roman rule, another natural disaster happened on the island - the volcano gave rise to a strong mudflow that buried whole city. Due to the volcanic past, deposits of barite, bentonite clays and silver accumulated in the sediments of the island, which contributed to the development of trade relations between Milos and other policies and countries.

Today, only a crater, barely visible in the relief, remains from the Milos volcano. Sometimes the bowels of the earth make themselves felt by small gas emissions or hot springs.

In addition to the remains of a volcanic crater, Milos is famous for its sandy beaches There are more than 70 of them on the island.

The second most famous volcano greece located on a small Nisyros island. This tectonic structure belongs to the youngest formations, because it appeared only 160,000 years ago. Despite the fact that the volcano is now showing some activity, tourists are quite rare here, which allows you to see it well and slowly.

The last major eruption, which happened in 1888, left behind a crater with a diameter of 25 meters. Now in the crater itself and around it you can observe the "lunar landscape" - the desert area is covered with multi-colored secretions of fumaroles and the remains of a substance erupted from the deep parts of the volcano.

The influence of volcanoes on the development of Greek culture

The volcanic eruption, accompanied by fiery streams, columns of smoke and clouds of ash, was perceived by ancient people as a punishment of the gods. The main goal of the life of any person was to incline a higher power to his side, appease with rich sacrifices and constant prayer.

The patron saint of volcanoes in the mythology of Ancient Greece was Hephaestus. He controlled not only the forces of nature, but was also a skilled blacksmith. According to Homer, Hephaestus was the son of Hera, the wife of Zeus. The goddess, annoyed by her husband's betrayal, gave birth to Hephaestus herself, from her thigh. The boy was born very weak, and besides, he was limping on both legs. The goddess, upset by this state of affairs, did not find anything better than to throw her son into the depths of the sea, hoping for his death. But the sea took Hephaestus into its arms. The second mother for the blacksmith god was Thetis, the patroness of the seas.

Hephaestus spent his youth and early youth on the seabed, where he did what he loved. Forged products that came out from under his hammer were not only beautiful, but also reliable. One day, when Hephaestus found out about the deeds of his mother, he forged a beautiful golden throne, and sent it as a gift to Olympus. Hera gladly accepted the offering, but as soon as she sat on the throne, invisible bonds bound her. Zeus, through his messengers, begged Hephaestus to release the goddess, but he remained adamant. Finally, Dionysus managed to get the blacksmith drunk, and in this form, deliver to Olympus. Seeing his mother chained to the throne, Hephaestus had mercy and forgave her. Since then, the son of Hera has taken an honorable place in the assembly of the gods, although he continued to engage in exclusively physical labor.

In Roman mythology, which adopted most of the features of antiquity, the god Vulcan corresponded to Hephaestus. According to the myths, he caused earthquakes and eruptions by working diligently with a hammer in his forge.

The activity of volcanoes often caused the death of entire cities and the collapse of civilizations. People were attracted by the beauty and grandeur of the volcanic structures, and often they were not even aware of the danger that lurks several kilometers below them. This is how the developed Mycenaean-Minoan civilization, which consisted of many ancient cities and settlements, sunk into oblivion. Modern historians believe that it is this incident, which occurred 1600 years before the beginning of a new era, that underlies the legends of Atlantis.

Island arcs of Greece, on which active and extinct volcanoes, are interesting objects for tourist routes. White and black sand beaches, hot springs and therapeutic mud are perfect for people who want to relax with benefits. In addition, choosing a vacation near the volcano, you will get a unique opportunity to see all the greatness of nature with your own eyes.

Funeral home of Philip II

It is known that Philip II of Macedon, a descendant of Hercules, a ruler whose personality can be compared with the gods, was influenced by the ideas of Plato and the beliefs of Orpheus. For them, death was nothing more than a transition to a new life, therefore, surrounded by Philip, the idea of ​​​​assigning to the heroes of the one who was chosen immediately after the death of the previous one finds fertile ground.

Significance of Georgios Papanicolaou's discovery for modern medicine.

Cities of Ancient Greece: Dorida

Dorida is a part ancient greece. The mountainous area was between Parnassus and Eta. Dorida bordered on Phokis, Lokrid, Aetolia. It is located near the Kefiss River and its tributary Pinda. In terms of area, Dorida, of course, was much inferior to Sparta and even Athens. Its territory was only 200 km2. Initially, this area was inhabited by a tribe of dryopes, therefore Dorida was called "Dryopida". They were driven out by the Dorians. This is how Dorida was born. Dorians are the founders of several cities in this territory. They were large, and entered the history of Greece as the "Dorian tetrapoly".

Poems from Elena Lem

According to the Greek philosopher Plato, there once existed on our planet beautiful island Atlantis, inhabited by talented people of high culture. Many scientists still consider Plato's stories just a beautiful myth, but some geological and archaeological studies indicate that the island really existed, and the eruption of the Santorini volcano, located on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, caused its death.

Before the eruption of Santorini

Together with several small islands, Thira is part of the Santorini group of islands belonging to the Cyclades archipelago in the southern Aegean Sea. The island group in the form of a ring is located at the junction of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, due to which it is characterized by increased volcanic activity. According to archaeological data, already in the XIII century BC, Santorini was inhabited by numerous civilizations, including the famous Minoan, famous for its architecture, painting and high economic development.

Archaeological excavations near the city of Akrotiri in the south of the island of Thira show that once there was a large and dynamic settlement in this place, engaged in trade with the countries of the Mediterranean Sea. Today, the remnants of this once prosperous community are buried under a thick blanket of pumice stone, spawned by a massive eruption during the Late Bronze Age. The exact date of the volcanic event remains controversial, although most radiometric studies indicate that the volcano erupted between 1615 and 1645 BC.

Plinian volcanic eruption of Santorini

Over the past million years, Santorini has experienced at least 12 major eruptions. The last of these, which destroyed the Minoan civilization and, possibly, Atlantis, occurred according to the Plinian type and received the VEI-7 index on an 8-point scale of explosiveness. The grandeur of this explosion was surpassed only by seven terrestrial eruptions that have occurred over the past four millennia, including.

Before the disaster, Santorini was a large round island with an estuary filled with sea water. At the end of the Bronze Age, its central highlands collapsed as a result of an eruption, and a large caldera formed in their place. The island was divided into three parts, which today are the islands of Thira, Thirassia and Aspronisi.

The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, massive pyroclastic flows and a tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely devastated its insides, after which its cone, unable to withstand its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, where sea waters poured after it. The resulting giant wave, about 18 meters high, swept through the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all the settlements on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other Mediterranean countries, suspending the development of mankind for a long thousand years.

Modern history of Santorini

After the eruption of Santorini, many other eruptive events took place in the center of the resulting caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today, Santorini shows constant seismic activity, and some of its islands still have fumaroles and hydrothermal vents. Scientists are sure that sooner or later a new eruption will occur here. Most likely, his strength will be from small to moderate. However, volcanoes such as Santorini are unpredictable, so the likelihood of a powerful eruption, similar to the one that destroyed the Minoan civilization, still remains very high.

Santorini is the number one destination in Greece according to Tripadvisor. And indeed it is. The Acropolis of Athens pales in comparison to this extraordinary island.

In fact, Santorini is a group of islands in the Aegean Sea. The group includes the islands of Thira, Thirassia, Palea Kameni, Nea Kameni and Aspro. The population of Thirasia is very small, Palea Kameni, Nea Kameni and Aspro are generally uninhabited, therefore main island Thira is called simply by the name of the archipelago.

Volcano Santorini

The main attraction of the island is the Santorini volcano. Arriving in Santorini, it is simply impossible not to visit the volcano - the island is the volcano. The exception is the peak of Santorini, but more on that later. The volcano is active. The island shakes regularly. The last serious earthquake here occurred in 1956.

Until 1500 BC, the island had a round shape and was called Strongila. The Santorin volcano, which was located in the center of the island, had a height of 1.5 km. About one and a half thousand years BC, an event occurred that decisively changed both history ancient world, and the shape of the island - an eruption with a force of up to 7 points on the eruption scale. As a result of the eruption, the crater of the volcano collapsed and a huge caldera (funnel) was formed, which was immediately filled with the sea. The area of ​​the sea surface of the caldera reaches about 32 square meters. miles, and a depth of 300-400 m. From ancient Strongyla, only the currently visible crescent with sheer cliff more than 300 m of the western part and gently sloping beaches of the eastern part.

This is what Santorini looks like today. In the very center there is an island-crater (Palea Kameni), surrounded by a flooded caldera and individual islands. Source: Wikipedia.

After filling the crater of the volcano with water, it evaporated and a huge explosion occurred (the effect of a steam boiler), which caused a huge tsunami, presumably from 100 to 200 m high, that hit north coast Crete. The consequence of the tsunami was the decline of the Minoan civilization. The catastrophe was completed by strong earthquakes and volcanic ash thrown out over a considerable distance. A tsunami several tens of meters high destroyed everything that was on the islands of the Aegean Sea, on Crete, in the coastal Greek settlements, northern Egypt, everyone who lived on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and suspended the development of civilizations for a thousand years. There is a version that it was this tsunami that killed Atlantis.

If you look at satellite image, the mountain is clearly visible on the right. This is the peak of Santorini. It has nothing to do with the volcano and was here before it. It has exactly the same structure and origin as all the other islands of the Cyclades archipelago.

From the side of the island, the caldera is framed by sheer slopes. It is on these slopes that the top attractions are located - the cities of Fira and Oia.

Sheer cliffs around the caldera of Santorini volcano. The dark island in the center is a crater.

Santorini conditionally Greek island. This can be seen in architecture, culture, names and Catholics. The name of the island itself is of Latin origin - Santa Irini (in Greek it would be Agios Irini). Obviously Latin names are also found among settlements- Emporio, Perissa, Messario, etc.

Carter of Santorini volcano. Oia is visible in the background, and even further, the island of Ios.

I'm very skeptical of crowds of tourists, but this island built one. We spent five days on the island and did not have time to see everything.

Transport in Santorini

Volcano Santorini

The ruins of the Minoan city on Cape Akrotiri

Akrotiri is the name of the excavations at the site of a Bronze Age settlement attributed to the Minoan civilization. The name of the excavations is given by the name of a modern village located on a nearby hill. The original name of the ancient settlement is unknown. It was buried under a layer of ash from a volcanic eruption around 1500 BC, and as a result, it is surprisingly well preserved. According to experts, before the city was covered with volcanic ash, there was a strong earthquake, in connection with which the residents managed to leave their homes on time.

The Akrotiri Museum is one of the most civilized places in Santorini. It's clean, tidy and well thought out. The infrastructure is very reminiscent of the pyramids of Guimar not Tenerife. I did not like only paid parking (3 euros). We have not seen more paid parking lots in Santorini.

The Akrotiri Excavation Museum is a branch of Tenerife in Santorini.

Shortly before the completion of the excavations in 2005, the roof that covered the entire excavation area collapsed, killing one of the visitors. The excavations were not damaged, but after that the object was closed to the public. In June 2008, it was announced that Akrotiri would be closed to tourists until at least 2010. I don't know exactly when it was opened, but the museum is open.

red beach

The Red Beach is in close proximity to Akrotiri. The beach is like a beach, only red. For such a popular and organized beach, surprisingly poor parking and approach. Poor aunts hardly make their way over stones and other gullies. Parking by the beach resembles an average Novgorod yard.

black beach

The black beach in Santorini is everywhere. A volcano is a volcano. There are beaches with very small pebbles - they are called sandy. They are located in the beach villages of Perissa and Kamari.

Surprisingly, Santorini is developed beach holiday. The beach villages and beaches here are so-so, if you want a beach, go somewhere else (better not to Greece at all).

Peak of Santorini

Santorini Peak is the highest point on the island. At the peak is the NATO radar and the peak itself is closed to the public. However, almost at the very top, there is viewing platforms. The entire archipelago is clearly visible from the peak.