Top 10 Facts about Santorini in Greece

By Berard Gagnon – Wikimedia

Top 10 Facts about Santorini in Greece

When you hear the name Santorini, what comes to mind is a beautiful island dotted with crisp white and blue buildings.

This is the most famous island in Greece and it captures the heart of anyone that visits.

The island is also known as Thera in Greek. It is located in the southern Aegean Sea. It has magnificent sunset and beautiful cobbled streets topped with unique gastronomy.

The most popular neighbourhoods on the island are Fira and Oia. There is more about these places on the blog, the best areas to stay in Santorini.

There is a myth that relates this island to the ancient city of Atlantis. Being the most photographed island in Greece, there is definitely more about this city.

Check out these top 10 facts about Santorini. 

1. Strogill, Kallisti and Theras are the other names of Santorini

While we may know this idyllic island by the name Santorini, the locals here know it by different names.

They call it strogill meaning round, kallisti meaning the most beautiful and theras or thira meaning the son of a king.

The name was changed in the 13^th century by Latin inhabitants in honour of Saint Irene. They called it Santa Irini and the name morphed to Santorini as we know it today.

2. Different rulers ruled Santorini

By Κλέαρχος Π. – Wikimedia

The history of Santorini was shaped by different periods. Santorini was founded by the Dorian colonialists in the 9^th century.

During this time, Santorini was known as Thera, the name of the rulers at the time.

The island has been under the rule of the Byzantines and the Venetians for almost 400 years.

The Ottoman Turks overthrew them and ruled over it, during this time the island was not a part of Greece.

Traces of the Roman Empire on this island can be found through the ruins in the city.

3. Greco-Roman architecture is dominant in Santorini

By Berard Gagnon – Wikimedia

Due to the influence of the Venetians, almost all the architecture in Santorini is Cycladic and Venetian styled.

The beautiful streets are made of cobblestones, and the buildings are whitewashed.  Some of the buildings follow the original Greek architecture.

Unfortunately, most of the old buildings on the island were destroyed by an earthquake in 1956.

The capital of Santorini, Fira, has several buildings that were inspired by Venetian and Cycladic architectural designs. Its streets are whitewashed and cobbled.

4. Santorini has the best wine in the whole of Greece

Photo by Zan on Unsplash

There are more than 18 wineries in Santorini. It is definitely the best place to go for wine tasting.

The island has been in the winemaking business for more than 30 centuries. There are over 80 varieties of grapes grown on the island too.

Santorini is a windy place; this has made the farmers adopt farming methods that would spare their grapes. The grapes are grown on the ground in bunches rather than on vines.

They are also grown with no irrigation; they get all the water from the moisture in the humid air.

The volcanic soil and the special climate contribute to the unique character of the island’s wines.

5. Santorini may be Atlantis Plato wrote about

Santorini is made up of a series of islands in the Aegean Sea but only the caldera has a human settlement in the entire world. The island is on an underwater volcano.

For this reason, many believe that the island was referenced as Atlantis by Plato.

Plato referred to the disappearance of around island. Santorini has a circular outline with a domed island at the centre.     

According to Plato, this happened during the Minoan Eruption. A devastating tsunami roughed up the Aegean Sea destroying the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.

Luckily, about 30,000 residents evacuated the island before the tsunami struck.

6. Trading in ancient Santorini was sophisticated

By Berard Gagnon – Wikimedia

After the earthquake and tsunami that struck the island, very little was left to show the existence of past life.

Archaeologists who excavated the place found a city buried under six feet of ash. The city of Akrotiri was in a good state.

From the artefacts gathered, it showed that the city was an active trading centre. Furthermore, the city had sophisticated designs.

The ancient city had multi-levelled buildings, indoor washrooms, working sewerage and ornate frescos.

There were no traces of human remains, the archaeologists believed that the residents of the city successfully evacuated before the earthquake struck.

Some of the artefacts found could be traced to Egypt, Crete, Syria, and Cyprus. This made Santorini one of the most important trading centres.

7. Santorini is an active volcano

By Sidvics – Wikimedia

Scientists have found evidence of at least twelve large eruptions in the last 2000 centuries. The most recent eruption was in 1956 with tremors experienced between 2011 and 2012.

The blessing in disguise is that previous volcanic eruptions left Santorini with the most beautiful beaches.

There are volcanic red beaches, black sand beaches as well as white rock formations.

8. Santorini has one source of freshwater

The island has a small spring located in a cave behind a small chapel.

This spring only provides a small quantity of water. The water, which comes from the only remaining limestone outcrop, is of good.

The hotels and homes on the island get their water from a local desalination plant.

9. This island is one of the great wonders of the world

By Bgabel -Wikimedia

Santorini is one of the great natural wonders of the world. Its main attraction is the rolling landscape and seascape.

All these were caused by a volcanic explosion in 1630 BCE. The top of the island was blown off, in the process forming a caldera.

Sunsets at Santorini are nothing short of magical. The skies turn to beautiful pink and purple.

Most of the hotels offer some of the best views of the sunset over the sea.    

10. Fortifications from the 15^th and 16^th centuries

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Cyclades were under threat from pirates. The pirates plundered their harvests, enslaved men and women and sold them in the slave markets.

The Cyclades would hide in the small bays on the island. They also built their homes at the highest points that were inaccessible.

They had a wall around their homes that formed a protective perimeter around the village.

These types of fortification were found all over the island. It protected the islanders.

There were small coastal watchtowers, from where a watch was kept and an alarm raised when a pirate ship was sighted.