Santorini Volcano

Many people say that the volcano of Santorini has both destroyed and beneficiated the island. Its inhabitants and their civilization in general have been affected strongly by the volcano in a good and, at the same time, bad way.
An eruption that occurred in 1,600 BC extinguished any beings that lived in the island and buried an entire civilization under tones of lava. However, its ash gave birth to a new civilization that embraced this tremendous natural phenomenon, examined it and took benefit of its positive properties. Santorini island has been connected strongly with its volcano and the prior reason of its fame worldwide derives from it.

Santorini caldera

The caldera of Santorini

From one hard, the volcano seems to have torn a part of the island and even though having buried a big part of it, it has left behind one of the most impressive sceneries; a spectacular caldera that makes people gazing at it endlessly no matter if they are on the top or at the bottom of its cliff.

On the other hand, it has created a fertile earth which offers some unique products like grapes that are transformed into one of the tastiest wines all over the world. What is more, the volcanic earth and the landscape formation after the eruption have leaded the islander to the construction of cave-style house that have offered the island an amazingly beautiful and picturesque style.

The volcano of Santorini has made up for the disaster that it provoked to the habitants by becoming a great source of income for them. The beautiful scenery of the caldera, the view from Fira and Oia to the volcanic area, the architectural style of the cave houses, the colored volcanic pebbles and sand of the beaches and the romantic sceneries of the sunset over the caldera compensate the islanders by attracting a huge number of visitors from all over the world.

Santorini sunset

Santorini sunset

Terror and grandeur have made a weird alliance which derives from the earth’s innards and witnesses the power of the earth and its ability to transform and create the most beautiful pictures which no human brain could perceive.

Akrotiri Santorini

The Bronze Age findings in Therasia and Thera Wall paintings found in Akrotiri, Thera Therasia island was rich in pumice and this led to the creation of mines. Thanks to the pumice, people could get provided with a building material that.

Aspronisi

Aspronisi island Santorini caldera The next eruptions took place during the years 1707-1711 AD in the caldera. A strong earthquake occurred on May 21st, 1707 and three days later a white island, known as Aspronisi, .

Atlantis the lost city

Plato, one of the most important ancient greek philosophers, was both a student and a friend of Socrates, has talked about the disappearance of Atlantis, describing the lost city in a way that makes it resembling to Strongyle island (Santorini before the Minoan eruption). According to Plato’s scripts, Atlantis was a round-shaped island (just like Strongyle)inhabited by people who had developed a very important civilization.

Nea Kameni

The following eruption resulted in the creation of Nea Kameni island and it took place in 1570-1573 AD. Nea Kameni emerged from the fire and the streams of the volcano, four kilometers away from Nea Kameni.

Palea Kameni and Iera

Saint Nikolas church and hot springs at Palea Kameni According to Stravon, a new eruption occurred on the 145th Olympic Games, when Phillip V from Macedonia signed a peace agreement with the Romans. The eruption must have taken place in 197 BC and.

Santorini Caldera

Santorini caldera According to geologists and volcanologists, there have been twelve circles of volcanic activity over the last 200,000 years and the south side of the caldera was created after an eruption 100,000 years ago while the side was created after t.

Santorini Volcano Minoan Eruption

The Minoan eruption destroyed the settlements that had been built during the Bronze Age and it buried them under thick ash layers. These settlements remained hidden under white pumice.

Santorini volcano recent eruptions

Volcanic eruptions in the 19th century AD A series of eruptions took place on Nea Kameni during the period 1866-1870. According to the watchman who lived in Nea Kameni, big rocks come off and rolled from the volcano sides on January 1866.

The volcanic islands of Santorini

The volcanic islands Palea and Nea Kameni seen from Akrotiri Palea Kameni island was shaped hundreds of years after the Minoan eruption and nowadays it is an uninhabited island. Taking into consideration its morphology, it must have been much.

The volcano of Santorini

Santorini was initially named as Strongyle, after its round shape (strongyle means “round”). This information has been noted by Herodotus who also lets us know that Strongyle was renamed as Calliste afterwards thanks to its incomparable beauty (calliste was used in ancient greek meaning “the most beautiful”).

Volcanic eruption effects

Earthquake Apart from the steams and the hot springs, the volcanic activity is also related to earthquakes caused by the collision between the African and the eurasiatic plates or due to changes in the magmatic chamber. In the case of Santorini, the most serious damages are due to earthquakes rather than the volcanic eruptions.