Santorini which is essentially an island that remains after a volcanic eruption destroyed early settlements there that date back to five centuries BC. The island is very steep and the houses are along the top of the cliffs.
We took a boat trip in to our port…
… passing by a lot of smaller rocky outcrops – black volcanic rocks…
In the cliff face you could see the different layers of rock – a lot of the top layers are pumice stone – big layers of it.
After a bus ride to the top of the cliffs on a very narrow road with lots of hairpin bends we made it to the top. The land is just rocky and bare except for a lot of vineyards- cut very low to prevent the wind blowing them away. In the background you can see Mt Elijah – highest peak on the island which we walked to the top of later in the day.
We reached the Akrotiri and visited the archeological site there which was fantastic! The pics don’t do it justice as we had a guide explaining all the different buildings and streets as we walked through the site – and its hard to convey all that with photos. More on the history at these links:
Akrotiri Site
Akrotini
The site that is excavated has been covered by a roof costing 40 Million Euro – paid for by UNESCO. It is believed that there are two more cities underneath this first layer – many believe Akritori is actually the Lost City of Atlantis
Through those holes on the left we could see down into the site. The city had a sewage system, running water and it is thought that it was a matriarchal society – run by women with the men working outdoors and wealth coming back to the area from sailors raiding.
This is a section known as The Ladies House – where the ruling women were thought to live. That window was like a balcony, used to speak to the people in the small square in front of it. It is believed that the captains of the ships were allowed to use this room to speak when they returned from the voyages. They did not sleep there, they slept on their ships.
Three beds found in the ruins.
This was a room where the women would have washed, there is a small bench to sit on and a pot for water.
More of the ruins, we could see where the streets would have been.
The visit was much more detailed than these few pics show and fascinating history…. after we finished there we drove back towards Mt Elijah. The views are stunning….
We walked to the top of the Mt and it was worth the walk up! great views…
Then we made our way back to town….