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Santorini personal tour: Santorini's
soil is
very fertile because of its volcanic nature. Because there is no
water on the island, everything grows without any irrigation.
Santorini's atmosphere is 70-80% humidity. the plants absorb the
water they need from the islands humid atmosphere. Santorini is
almost dry, the hottest month being July, when the temperature
goes up to 40 degrees and the coldest is January with a
temperature of 12 degrees. There are few springs and they don't
supply much water. For their daily needs the inhabitants use
drills or rainwater carefully collected in cisterns. Almost every
house has its own cistern. Theses days the island is also supplied
with tankers, carrying water, but this water is not drinkable as
it is usually not very tasteful or even salted.
This
is the narrowest part
of Santorini which is 2 kilometers from left-right. There is also
another crater near Santorini. This crater is not connected with
the crater of Santorini. It is 2.5 miles away from the shore and
20m (60ft) under the sea. The last eruption was 350 years ago in
1650. The eruption caused a great tidal ware that submerged part
of the island underwater. "Kouloumbos" is quite
at the time, but it is still a very active volcano. Usually, this
crater is more active than the Santorini crater.
(as
the bus drives show the white-red-black walls on the left)
Prehistoric
Akrotiri is
4.000 years old. It is still in good condition because it was
preserved under volcanic ash. The life of the island is based on
the life and activity of the volcano. Every time the volcano
erupts, the island changes. Tradition says that through the
eruptions to come, the island will return to its original circular
shape.
Finikia,
which we will see to our right is the most traditional part of
Oia. Oia was the commercial center and the capital of the
island until1956. It was a rich village where sailors, captains
and mechanics lived. Here they would export the products of
Santorini. There were 9 shipyards in the village. as you will see,
the main road is paved with marble stones. In 1956 an earthquake
of 7.8 on the richter scale destroyed the village and the island.
80% of the houses were destroyed. Also after the last eruption in
1950 many left for Athens in fera of a stronger eruption.
After
the eruption in 1625 b.c. the island was inhabited for 300 years.
I would like to give you an idea of how large the eruption was.
There was a tidal ware that was 210m. high when it left Santorini
and still 70m. high when it reached Crete, washing and destroying
the Minoan Civilization. The sound of the blast was heard in the
Scandinavian countries and Asia minor. It is the 5th largest
eruption of the world.
During
the 13th century, the Venetians named the island after a church
called "Santa Irene". In Greek it is pronounced
"Santa Irini" and over the years the name became
Santorini. The official name of the island remains to be
"THIRA" after the Dorian King "Thiras".
The island of
Santorini is known for two characteristics: her cave houses and
her many churches. There are over 550 churches on the island, even
though they say that there are only 457 churches, one for each day
of the year. Cave
houses or spilies are common in Santorini. These houses are very
inexpensive and easy to built. The volcanic soil is soft enough to
dig into, but sturdy enough to hold for many years. The care
houses even to this day, stay very cool in the summer and very
warm in the winter.
In
1978 Custo and his boat "Calypso" come to the island. He
wanted to visit the part of the island that was lost under the
sea. The water between the volcano and Thirassia is the deepest
water in the caldera, reaching 400m depth. This was not a problem
for Custo. the problem was that when caldera was formed the land
sunk 1,000m deep. After each eruption, lava covered the land. The
lava measures approx. 600m. The lost island is buried under 600m
of lava which is under 400m of water. Maybe one day we will be
able to discover what was lost all those thousands of years ago.
In
the books you will read that the eruption took place in 1450b.c.
This is the old theory. Five years ago, 150 geologists,
volcanologists and scientists did a research about the eruption.
They found that in California on a rim of a tree, the found that a
great eruption had changed the atmosphere. The rig dated to
1625b.c. +/- 30 years. the only eruption that great near +/- 400
years was the eruption of Santorini. Scientists also found
volcanic ash in the layers of ice in Greenland from an eruption
that took place in 1625b.c. +/- 30 years. the great eruption of
1625b.c. has altered the atmosphere of the whole planet. Although
Santorini is a very quite island, it has a very explosive past.
Who knows what the future holds............
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