Santorini & Ios, Cyclades Islands, Greece
The geologic history of Santorini influenced most of what we saw today on this popular and beautiful island. Over 3500 years ago, Santorini was a huge volcanic island. In 1640 BC, a cataclysmic volcanic eruption blew the center of the island away, leaving a caldera that is today over 500 meters deep and filled with sea water. At the present, Santorini is one of several islands in a ring that show the outer limit of the original island. We moored our ship in the caldera itself to access the ports of Athinios and Fira.
The volcanic cliff walls of Santorini are nearly 1000 feet high and are the location of the scenic towns of Oia and Fira. We began our day with a visit to Oia, where we wandered through narrow cliffside alleys, out onto overlooks and into cafes with some of the most amazing views of our trip. At a distance these whitewashed clifftop towns look like snow capped mountains. But, the air temperature reminded us that no snow would be found here.
In the afternoon we visited the archeological museum at the town of Fira. It is a new museum that houses some of the amazing finds from the prehistoric Minoan town of Akrotiri. In 1967 an entire city was discovered preserved in the volcanic ash. Today the excavations still continue, but to date have uncovered two and three story houses, sophisticated drainage systems, food storage pots, ornate wooden tables and amazing wall sized frescos whose colors are still preserved 3500 years later.
To get back to our ship we got to choose one of three ways to descend the 984 foot cliff from the town of Fira (Thera). The quickest, and some would say most sane, was to enjoy a scenic cable car ride. The other two options involved a well-made cobble stone donkey path where some of us chose to ride by donkey or mule and others chose to walk.
We wrapped up the day with a sunset swim at Manganari Bay at the island of Ios.
The geologic history of Santorini influenced most of what we saw today on this popular and beautiful island. Over 3500 years ago, Santorini was a huge volcanic island. In 1640 BC, a cataclysmic volcanic eruption blew the center of the island away, leaving a caldera that is today over 500 meters deep and filled with sea water. At the present, Santorini is one of several islands in a ring that show the outer limit of the original island. We moored our ship in the caldera itself to access the ports of Athinios and Fira.
The volcanic cliff walls of Santorini are nearly 1000 feet high and are the location of the scenic towns of Oia and Fira. We began our day with a visit to Oia, where we wandered through narrow cliffside alleys, out onto overlooks and into cafes with some of the most amazing views of our trip. At a distance these whitewashed clifftop towns look like snow capped mountains. But, the air temperature reminded us that no snow would be found here.
In the afternoon we visited the archeological museum at the town of Fira. It is a new museum that houses some of the amazing finds from the prehistoric Minoan town of Akrotiri. In 1967 an entire city was discovered preserved in the volcanic ash. Today the excavations still continue, but to date have uncovered two and three story houses, sophisticated drainage systems, food storage pots, ornate wooden tables and amazing wall sized frescos whose colors are still preserved 3500 years later.
To get back to our ship we got to choose one of three ways to descend the 984 foot cliff from the town of Fira (Thera). The quickest, and some would say most sane, was to enjoy a scenic cable car ride. The other two options involved a well-made cobble stone donkey path where some of us chose to ride by donkey or mule and others chose to walk.
We wrapped up the day with a sunset swim at Manganari Bay at the island of Ios.
