Aug 16, 2013
Touring southern Santorini
On the final full day of our stay in Santorini, we decided to culture up a little before we board our Athens-bound ferry which was scheduled at 1.25am. We hopped onto a southern Santorini tour that consisted of a fairly small group – we numbered not more than fifteen, despite travelling in a large coach that could easily fit another twenty or so other people. We were accompanied by good-humoured Francisco, who for some reason, spoke with a bedroom-raspy voice on using a microphone but not otherwise. ;)
First up, the highest point on Santorini – Mount Profitis Ilias – which peaks at 567 metres. The road onto the monastery is narrow, windy and rather treacherous given the number of ATV that were trying to do the climb on the shoulder of the road. I wasn’t sure (and still am not) how the driver was not nervous manoeuvering the coach on tight corners, and at one point, we even squeezed by a car with shattered windscreen following an accident with a tourist-handled ATV. The young rider and his friends were all huddled by the road, visibly shaken. It made me glad that we were not driving ourselves!
An 18th century monastery dedicated to the prophet Elijah can be found here, together with a couple of small chapels which are open for visits. This monastery holds significant spot in the history of Santorini, not only in terms of religious significant, but for it was once an active school of Greek language and literature, and today, despite the decline of the monastery, still houses about a dozen monks who are enterprising and self-sustaining without governmental aid. They produce ecclesiastical objects and arts, and also sell a number of agricultural products including olive oil, wine, honey and fava, sustained by way of natural spring.
From the mount, one can see all of Santorini. The flat eastern coast and where the airport landing strip is, the far-reaching Oia, the three-steps positioning of Fira, Firostefani and Imerovigli, the central villages of Pyrgos, Vothonas and Messaria, the edge of Akrotiri, and of course, the caldera plus the volcano is never too far away. On a clear, bright day, neighbouring islands in the horizon complements the already magnificent view of the endless Aegean Sea. Alas, we were up on the mount of a humid morning, so we could only spot hazy impressions of the other Cycladic islands.
We headed next to the village of Megalochori, meaning “big village” yet today home to only some 300 people. One of the earliest settlings on Santorini (its existence dating back to 17th century), it is essentially a rock village, with white-painted houses built into the volcanic rocks – rather like the cave houses along the caldera cliffs! The cobblestoned streets called calderimia are sometimes found on elevated ground in relation to the flanking houses, in part due to ash deposit from the previous volcanic eruptions.
Over twenty churches can be found within the village, their towers popping up with rather regular intervals from one to another. One of the most significant churches is the Church of St Mary, where 365 miniatures of saints can be found within. I wish we had a chance to take a walk inside though… Another significant structure is of a bell arch along one of the main streets. It was the sole survivor of the earth quake in 1956 and now stands alone like an archway through the village.
The land around Megalochori are used primarily as vineyards. What’s rather unique here in Santorini is that you should not expect to find tidy rows of grapes like you would, say, in France or Italy. Instead, they look like low-lying bunches with the grapes protected within the basket-shaped sprawl known as koulara, designed to withstand the elements of heat and wind. The most well-known grape variety grown in Santorini are Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidini. They make very good wine, and I have acquired a liking to the sweet red Santorinian wine as well as the vinsanto.
The excavation of Akrotiri is another site of significance in Santorini, where an entire ancient city was buried under volcanic ash. The actual name of this former Minoan outpost city is still unknown, and is currently so-called given its proximity to the village of Akrotiri. Its (re)discovery is recent, thanks to the archaelogical work of the late Professor Spyridon Marinatos that commenced in 1967. A visitor centre has been built to encourage tourism in part, and to protect the site at the same time. Sadly, a lack of funding is threatening further excavation effort to fully study the site.
By all means, it was a sophisticated city that was buried by the Minoan eruption (estimated date 1640-1628 BCE), featuring stone buildings of at least 2-3 storeys high, clear street system, organised society life and even plumbing facilities. To date, three and a half buildings have been examined in full, and from these alone, a wealth of artefacts had been recovered. Impressive frescoes give us a glimpse into what was norm during the civilisation, which activities included fishing, boxing, and saffron picking. Many of these pieces can be seen in Fira’s New Archaeological Museum, and some, all the way in Athen’s National Archeaological Museum.
In a way, the Akrotiri excavation shares many similarity to Pompeii, with one major exception – no human or animal remains were found, and neither were treasures or valuables. This leads to the hypothesis that several tremors must have been felt leading up to the large eruption, sufficient for the inhabitants to pack up and leave their homes for safety. However, with an estimate of mere 3% of the city that had been revealed during the excavations, who knows what else lie under 97% of the theoretical city size?
Before calling it a day, we were brought to Santowines for a little session of wine tasting. Three different wines were offered, although many of us were more entranced by the view from the terrace, not to mention being intrigued by a wedding ceremony going on nearby. I could not get enough of the view of the caldera, and knowing full well this would be our last evening on the island, we just sat there and marvelled in silence. So much so, we nearly missed the time to get back to the coach!
Touring southern Santorini: full photoset on Flickr
All posts in this series:
Greece: Postcards: Sunset in Oia
Greece: Chóra, Hora or Náxos Town? | Flickr Photoset
Greece: The Venetian Museum of Náxos | Flickr Photoset
Greece: An afternoon walk from Firá to Oia | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Caldera, volcano and hot spring | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Island time(table), Santorini edition
Greece: Postcards: Blue in Oia
Greece: Postcards: The idyllic village of Oia | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’
Greece: Touring southern Santorini | Flickr Photoset
Greece: Postcards: Athens and the Acropolis | Flickr Photoset
Bubyeeee santorini ;) u should get a place here lil hehehe
hah, when i win the lottery? ;)
uhuh…i always have the same hope as well kekekeke :)
except it’ll be really hard to win when i don’t have any ticket bought :p
then start buying!!! if God wants to grant u wishes…best you meet him half way muahahaha