Caldera sunsets, breathtaking views, miles of dark sandy or pebbled beaches, small domed churches & cobbled streets, houses carved into the dark volcanic cliffs.
All this is Santorini and more ..

One of the typical island churches
located in Oia

Santorini (THIRA) is one of the most southerly islands in the Cyclades.
It lies between Ios and Anafi and has an area of 96 square miles.
It is situated 130 naut. miles from Piraeus & 70 naut. miles from Crete.The island is 18 km long. Fira is the island capitol & Athinios is its port.

The Boy Boxer Mural

Although written documents, which could tell us exactly what happened do not exist, historians try to piece together the events of the 16th century BC. the whole island was buried under a thick layer of tufa, at many points 30 metres deep. Material thrown up from inside the cone creating a huge vacuum, the crust collapsed & a large central part of Strongyle was sucked inside. Eighty three sq.km of earth vanished into the crater. The sea flooded the dry land. All that remains of Strongyle today is Santorini.

View of Oia Houses

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF FIRA
The museum features remarkable finds from private collections, as well as from excavations of the Mesa Vouno, Sellada and Akrotiri sites, which date back to all the periods from the 3rd millennium BC., until the Roman years.

AKROTIRI - THE DIGS
Akrotiri is the best-preserved of all the prehistoric settlements discovered in the Aegean. Excavations confirm that the volcano erupted around 1500 BC.

THE ISLAND - MAIN AREAS
Fira - Firostefani - Imerovigli - Oia - Pyrgos - Megalochori - Akrotiri - Perissa - Perivolos - Messaria - Kamari - Monolithos

BEACHES
Kamari - Perissa & Perivolos
Red beach - Monolithos - Ahmeni - Ammoudi - Pori - Baxedes - Koloumbos

TRADITIONAL SANTORINIAN FOOD

Santorini is known for its yellow split peas (fava), its wine (brusco, bordeaux, visanto, nychteri) and for the small tomatoes which produce excellent tomato juice or "bertes" as the locals call it. Santorini's only export is a mineral called "Thiraiki Gri" or pumice, when in the past they exported all of the above.

SANTORINI ISLAND ENTERTAINMENT

Oia offers bars, quiet cafes and good restaurants with international cuisine, while also providing fresh seafood from the tavernas at the local beaches of Ammoudi, Pori and Ahmeni. A beachfront cafe is available at our Baxedes beach. Clubs and most bars can be found in Fira the capitol.

Oia is Santorini's second largest village. Less cosmopolitan than Fira, it is more picturesque and without a doubt one of the most beautiful places on the island. Its streets are paved with marble rather than the cobblestones encountered elsewhere on the island.

Perched on the Caldera, it boasts ruins of what was once a castle, and below that the tiny port of Ammoudi with its fish tavernas. One can reach the port by descending 214 steps or by car.

Oia reached the peak of prosperity in the late 19th & early 20th century. Its economic prosperity was based on its merchant fleet which plied trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially from Alexandria to Russia. Hence the two-story captain's houses built on the highest part of the village which are a reminder of the village's former affluence.