pop (2000e) 7600; area 75 km²/29 sq mi. Island in the S Cyclades c.140 km/87 mi N of Crete. The last great eruption of its volcano (c.1470 BC), in an explosion four times more powerful than Krakatoa, has been held responsible (probably mistakenly) for the rapid decline of Minoan civilization. The excavated site displays notable wall paintings and 3-storeyed houses.
Santorini (Greek Σαντορίνη) is a small, circular group of volcanic islands located in the Aegean Sea, about 200 km south-east from the mainland of Greece. It is also known by the name of the largest island in the archipelago, Thera (or Thira; It is the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km² (28 mi²), and in 2001 had an estimated population of 13,600. Its spectacular natural beauty along with its eminent nightlife make the island one of Europe's top tourist hotspots.
A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular and measuring about 12 km by 7 km (8 mi by 4 mi), is surrounded by 300 m (984 ft) high sheer cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Mediterranean sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the Mediterranean by another much smaller island called Therasia, also with cliffs. The island's ports are all in the lagoon and there are no ports on the outside of the island.
It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is largely a water-filled caldera.
The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the last several thousand years when it erupted cataclysmically about 3,500 years ago. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of feet deep, and its effects may have indirectly led to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, 110 km (70 mi) to the south. One popular theory holds that the Thera eruption is the source of the legend of Atlantis.
Minoan Advances
During the early 1900s, Sir Arthur Evans arrived on Crete in 1900 and began digging at a hilltop settlement called Knossos or Knossus. In addition, the advanced Minoan plumbing system had hot
and cold running water (hot water from geothermal sources), as well as drainage/waste disposal, all of which predated the mainland Greek and Roman sophisticated plumbing systems by over 1,000
years.
Development of the Atlantis Connection
It was not hard to see why this location was added to the list of possible locations for the fabled city of Atlantis. However, the latest archaeological, seismilogical and vulcanological evidence (popularized on The History Channel show Lost Worlds, episode "Atlantis") regarding Crete, Santorini and the description of Atlantis from Plato, is compelling enough (though not yet conclusive) that respected scientists are beginning to take it seriously:
Plato's description of a palace where water was plentiful and is collected from the surrounding hills, seems to be a good match with the digs at Knossus and Akroteri.Minoan civilization disappeared suddenly, at the height of its wealth and power. Scientists theorize that multiple tsunamis hit the island of Crete, circa 1500 BCE, that came from the direction of the island of Santorini (then called Thera) about 100 miles from Crete.
Santorini is the site of massive caldera, which surrounds an island at its center. Vulcanologists have determined this ill-fated island was engulfed by the terrible ca. 1500 BCE eruption of the Stroggilí volcano there, which affected the entire eastern Mediterranean, as far away as the Near East — possibly the most powerful eruption in recorded history, ejecting approximately 30 cu km (7 cu mi) of magma, up to 36 km (23 mi) high. The eruption is also theorized by some to explain most of the seemingly miraculous Biblical events of Exodus (an idea made popular and controversial in the general public by another 2006 History Channel documentary on the subject, "The Exodus Decoded"). uncovered an ancient city at the island's perimeter. In fact, the entire island of Santorini was covered by volcanic deposits that fell during a single eruption. Unearthed frescos from the island have depicted Santorini with a configuration that can be interpreted in this way. It also shows a huge city on the island, theorized by archaelogists to represent the center of the caldera. Plato described quarries on the island of Atlantis where "rocks of white, black, and red" were extracted from the hills and used to construct a great island city. It is speculated that survivors of the Minoan volcanic disaster asked Egypt for help, since they were the only other civilization with high culture at the time. Further evidence may suggest that the Jewish people held as slaves in Egypt might have been refugees from the Santorini catastrophe.The scientists Dr. J.
"Minoan" Akrotiri
Excavations starting in 1967 at the site called Akrotiri under the late Prof. Spyridon Marinatos have made Thera the best-known "Minoan" site outside of Crete, the homeland of the culture. The island was not called Thera at the time. Only the southern tip of a large town has been uncovered, yet it has revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets and squares, with remains of walls standing as high as 8 meters, all entombed in the solidified ash of the famous eruption of Thera.
The houses in Akrotiri are major structures and some of them are three stories high. The most famous archaeological remains found in Akrotiri are wall paintings or frescoes, which have kept
their original color very well, as they were preserved under many meters of volcanic ash. The town had a highly developed drainage system and its citizens were clearly very sophisticated and
relatively wealthy people, judging from the fine art work.
Pipes with running water and water closets found on Thera are the oldest such utilities discovered. The dual pipe system suggesting hot and cold running water, the advanced architecture, and the apparent layout of the Akrotiri find resembles Plato's description of the fictional lost city of Atlantis, further indicating the Minoans as the culture which primarily inspired the Atlantis legend.
Fragmentary wall-paintings at Akrotiri lack the insistent mythological content familiar in both Greek and Christian decor.
The well preserved ruins of the ancient town are often compared to the spectacular ruins at Pompeii in Italy.
The oldest signs of human settlement are Late Neolithic (4th millennium BCE or earlier), but ca. 2000–1650 BCE Akrotiri developed into one of the Aegean's major Bronze Age ports, with recovered objects that had come not just from Crete but also from Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria and Egypt, from the Dodecanese and the Greek mainland.
Dating
The Minoan eruption provides a fixed point for aligning the entire chronology of the 2nd millennium in the Aegean. Evidence of the eruption occurs throughout the region, and the site itself contains material culture from outside. The eruption occurred during the "Late Minoan IA" period at Crete and the "Late Cycladic I" in the surrounding islands.
However, the exact date of the eruption is unknown. Recent opinion based on dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating indicates that the eruption occurred between about 1650 and 1600 BCE.
Some scholars believe the radiocarbon dates to be completely wrong.
Ancient volcanic eruption
The devastating volcanic eruption of Thera has become the most famous single event in the Aegean before the fall of Troy. The eruption would likely have caused a significant climate upset for the eastern Mediterranean region.
Physical effects
The violent eruption was centred on a small island just north of the existing island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the caldera. The caldera itself was formed several hundred thousand years ago by collapse of the centre of a circular island caused by the emptying of the magma chamber during an eruption. The northern part of the caldera was refilled by the volcano and then collapsed again during the Minoan eruption. Before the Minoan eruption, the caldera formed a nearly continuous ring with the only entrance between the tiny island of Aspronisi and Thera. The eruption destroyed the sections of the ring between Aspronisi and Therasia, and between Therasia and Thera, creating two new channels.
On Santorini, there is a deposit of white tephra thrown from the eruption; it is up to 60 metres thick overlying the soil marking the ground level before the eruption. The layer is divided into three fairly distinct bands indicating different phases of the eruption. Only the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption of 1815 (and possibly the eruption at Lake Taupo of 181 CE) released more material into the atmosphere in the past 5,000 years — at an estimated 100 cubic kilometres.
Development of the Exodus Connection
The eruption of Santorini has been connected to the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and to the Ipuwer Papyrus, which in turn have been connected to each other. These theories would tie the eruption to Pharaoh Dudimose in the Second Intermediate Period of Egyptian History.
A 2006 documentary created by Jewish Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici (pron.
Jacobovici suggests that the Hyksos and the Hebrews (whom he calls "Amo Israel", "the people of God") were one and the same, a thesis he supports with Egyptian-style signet rings uncovered in the Hyksos capital of Avaris.
Jacobovici propounds the theory that the eruption of the Santorini Island volcano (c. 1623 B.C., +/-25) caused all the biblical plagues described against Egypt, redating the eruption to c. The Hyksos, some of them Mycenaean Greek "Hebrews", fled Egypt (which they had in fact ruled for some time) after the eruption.
Greek, Byzantine and Ottoman Santorini
Santorini remained unoccupied throughout the rest of the Bronze Age, during which time the Greeks took over Crete.
At Knossos, in a LMIIIA context (14th century BCE), seven Linear B texts while calling upon "all the gods" make sure to grant primacy to an elsewhere-unattested entity called qe-ra-si-ja and, once, qe-ra-si-jo. The Religious Impact of the Thera Volcano on Minoan Crete
Over the centuries after the general catastrophes of 1200 BCE, Phoenicians founded a site on Thera.
Then, in the 9th century BCE, Dorians founded the main Hellenic city - on Mesa Vouno, 396 m above sea level. These people later claimed that they had named the city and the island after their leader, Theras.
The Dorians have left a number of inscriptions incised in stone, in the vicinity of the temple of Apollo, attesting to pederastic relations between the authors and their eromenoi. Other historians, such as Dover and Marrou, have considered them to be pornographic in nature.Theran graffiti in translation
According to Herodotus (4.149-165), following a drought of seven years, Thera sent out colonists who founded a number of cities in northern Africa, including Cyrene.
In the 5th century BCE, Dorian Thera did not join the Delian League with Athens; The Athenians took the island during the war, but lost it again after the Battle of Aegospotami.
As with other Greek territories, Thera then was ruled by the Romans;
During the Crusades, the Franks settled it.
Santorini came under Ottoman rule in 1579.
Modern Santorini
Santorini was annexed to Greece in 1912. The island has no rivers and water is scarce. The primary industry of Santorini is tourism and in the summer the island can get quite crowded.
Santorini is home to a small but flourishing wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety, Assyrtiko.
In 1707 an undersea volcano breached the sea surface forming the current centre of activity at Nea Kameni, and eruptions centred on it continue—three times in the twentieth century, the last being in 1950.
Gallery
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Grape plants growing directly on the ground (without any support for the branches), Santorini, Greece. |
Grapevines at Santorini. |
Tourists at Oia watching to see the sunset. |
A donkey ride is one of the more exotic travelling options Santorini has to offer. |
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Thira, taken from a ship in the harbor. |
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