Welcome to Santorini
Island - Greece
Santorini, also know as
Thira, is widely considered to be Greece's most spectacular
island. Thousands of tourists come every year to gape at the
caldera of this volcano, a vestige of what was probably the
world's largest volcanic eruption ever.
This eruption, which occurred sometime
around 1450 BC, caused the middle of the volcano to sink,
leaving a caldera of high cliffs, one of the world's most
dramatic geographic spectacles.
There is a theory, one that has fired the imagination of
writers, artists and mystics since ancient times, that postulates
that the island was part of the lost continent of Atlantis.
About Santorini
Santorini lies at the south end of the prefecture of Cyclades
islands in a distance of 128 miles from the port of Piraues.
The area of the island is 75 square Km and its population
7.328 people (1981 census).
Santorini can be reached by air from Athens with two flights
per day or by ferry from Piraues with frequent departures
through the year. During the summer period there are additional
flights between Santorini and other islands, and charter flights
from abroad. There are also nautical connections between Santorini
and many other Cyclades islands, Dodecanesse, Crete and Thessaloniki.
Local boats take the island visitors for daily cruises to
the volcano and to the nearby island Thirasia.
Santorini is an unusual island with intense character and
unique fascination. The wildness of the landscape, the breathtaking
view, the multicolored beaches formed by the volcano's lava
and the deep blue Aegean Sea combine a picture of wild, proud
and imposing beauty.
The whole Santorini island is one huge pile of volcanic lava.
The ground you stand on is not part of the earth's crust;
it has been created by the hardening of a viscous liquid expelled
from the bowels of the earth, like the blood from a wound
drying on the skin. Red, black and brown are Santorini colours.
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