Santorini
island
Santorini is one of the
most southerly islands in
the Cyclades. It lies between
Ios and Anafi, has an area
of 96 square miles, and
its permanent population
numbers 11,381. It is situated
130 nautical miles from
Piraeus and 70 nautical
miles from Crete. The island
itself is 18 kilometres
long.
The capital of the island
is Fira, and Athinios is
its port.
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| Santorini
in recent years has developed
into a summer holiday resort for
Greeks and foreigners alike. Its
important archaeological sites
and its stunning beauty, which
is mainly a function of its extraordinary
landscape, attracts tourists from
all over the world every summer.
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Imerovigli
village
The name of this village
belongs to the days of the
pirates: vigla = watchtower,
imera = day. Its position
at the centre and highest
point of the caldera rim
gave it visual command of
the whole area, enabling
it to signal timely warnings
to the population when pirates
sailed into view. |
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| It also derived
importance from its proximity
to the fortress at Skaros. The
Malteza church has a marvellous
carved wooden screen with icons
depicting scenes from the Old
Testament. There is a path from
Imerovigli leading to Skaros. |
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The
volcano
Although written documents
which could tell us exactly
what happened do not exist,
historians try to piece
together the events of the
16th century BC. The whole
island was buried under
a thick layer of tufa, at
many points 30 meters deep.
Material thrown up from
inside the cone creating
a huge vacuum, the crust
collapsed & a large
central part of Strongyle
was sucked inside. |
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| Eighty three
sq.km of earth vanished into the
crater. The sea flooded the dry
land. All that remains of Strongyle
today is Santorini. |
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