Santorini Island
Santorini is undoubtedly the most requested for a romantic holiday. Favorite destination for a honeymoon or an important anniversary, it is perfect from all points of view legal to love.
Despite its honeyed atmosphere, however, it is also sought after for its particular conformation which makes it unique among all the Greek Islands. Santorini is magical, with its Caldera, its villages perched on the cliffs, for its so different colors and for the atmosphere that only it can give.
Its original shape was round, but due to a violent volcanic eruption resulting in a terrifying earthquake in the fifteenth century it practically caused its center to sink, changing its appearance sharply. The explosion of magma emptied the gigantic basin under the island causing the volcano to collapse moving billions of cubic meters of water which, in contact with the incandescent abyss, vaporized setting off a series of cyclopean explosions which destroyed the island and raised waves up to sixty meters high that were thrown up to the coasts of Crete and Egypt.
Eighteen kilometers long and 12 wide, it is a predominantly arid, rocky island but on the other hand offers breathtaking views and sunsets considered among the most beautiful in the world. Its name in Greek is Thira and there are several legends around it, including the one that was actually the mythical Atlantis. There are many similarities with the mysterious but concrete ancient city to decree the veracity of the thing up to now there is still nothing both material and written the only thing recognized is that the Minoan civilization disappeared forever.
According to Greek mythology, Santorini was created by the God Poseidon the God of the Sea to punish men for their sins.
Archaeological excavations reveal that it was already inhabited from the 4th millennium BC and that its civilization was very advanced compared to its era. Populated by the Minoans as demonstrated by the excavations of Akrotiri, it later became a Doric colony which settled in Santorini led by the leader Theras from whom it took its name and who built ports, cities, temples as well as introducing the alphabet. Later it allied with Sparta and the Athenians becoming an important naval base of the Ptolemies. During the Byzantine period it was Christianized becoming a bishopric and from here on a continuous struggle and changes of dominion first with the Turks, then with the Genoese, and again with the Venetians until the arrival of the Ottoman Empire was 1579 which, however, left it complete autonomy and was never colonized by the new usurpers and everything remained like this until finally the whole of Greece conquered its independence in full.
You choose to come on holiday to Santorini mainly for its landscape that goes beyond the classic Greek island, for the warm-colored sunsets, for its particular but beautiful beaches at the same time, for the good food and for the taste of luxury , and yes because Santorini together with Mykonos are the two most expensive islands from all points of view in the Aegean. Here you will find gourmet restaurants, elegant boutiques and facilities with top-level services which obviously have a price but on the other hand will make you feel like a real VIP.
It may also be good for families, however, it is better if the children are already able to walk on their own, it's all up and down and with the pram it really becomes an undertaking and a job and also because the depths of its coasts are immediately deep, the waters do not slope gently for the simple reason that it is an island born from an underground volcano think of an overturned funnel therefore with only water around it that falls directly into the abyss.
Curiosity, did you know that the most exported product in Santorini is land for making concrete and that a large part of this land was used to build the Suez Canal?
Do not miss the villages that overlook the immense Caldera. Thira the capital on top of a cliff hanging over the Aegean, with its breathtaking view of the satellite islands, beautiful sophisticated with small restaurants where you can dine by candlelight in a fairytale setting and where every step is a memory.
Old Fira just above Kamari where the old church of Agios Minas is portrayed in all the postcards of Santorini and the most photographed in instagram. Above the promontory of Kameni at 400 meters above sea level, the remains of this ancient city dating back to the 9th century BC with the terrace of the festivals where rites were celebrated in honor of the god Apollo, or its two agoras with the temple of Dionysos and the Sanctuary of Apollo Karneios.
Also for archeology lovers, the Akrotiri site will be a real catapult into the past. Considered together with the Delos island one of the two most important sites of the Cyclades, it preserves the remains of a very advanced city compared to the period of its existence. A port city in the Bronze Age period, it was destroyed and buried during the eruption of 1629. It came to light again in 1860 by chance while the volcanic rocks were being extracted for the construction of the Suez Canal and in 1967, almost a century later, the excavations giving the internal world a remarkable testimony of the past.
Some beaches of Santorini are named after the colors by virtue of the colors of their coasts or the cliffs that surround them. Who has never heard of the Red Beach with its scarlet cliff, or the White Beach with its white rocks that seem to want to protect it, or the Black Beach where the beach is completely black unlike the others which are always dark but gray .
And then the food and wine tours to delight the palate and taste buds, with the legendary nectars of Santorini following the wine route, an interesting itinerary where you can get to know the fruit of native vines and taste the fabulous products of the earth such as its tomatoes or its white aubergines.
To conclude here too, the list of things to do and see are many, but of course the fact remains that for one reason or another, Santorini must be seen at least once in a lifetime!