Thera (Santorini)
The island, before the great volcanic eruption around the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. it was circular and included Therasia and the other smaller islands.
In Akrotiri, in the southern part of the island, part of a rich city was excavated that was already flourishing during the Meso-Cycladic era (first half of the 2nd millennium BC). The site was inhabited from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (4th - 3rd millennium BC).
During the 18th century BC approximately it had developed into a city that was leveled at the beginning of the 17th century BC. from a big earthquake.
The settlement was soon rebuilt on top of the older ruins. It had multi-storied walled houses, organized warehouses, craft areas, roads and a fully developed drainage system.
About 1630 BC (as shown by the data of the natural sciences) and while the city was at the height of its prosperity, it was covered by thick layers of ash that came from the terrifying eruption of the volcano. The inhabitants managed to get away with their valuables, but the city was buried intact. No palace or any building of central authority has been identified and only the luxurious "Xesti 3" with the "purification tank" and the many-faced initiation scenes on the walls, seems to have been a building of special importance. The frescoes of the other houses mainly include themes from nature (animals, plants and exotic landscapes).
Among the latest finds are tablets of Linear A' writing, accounting in nature, similar to those of the Minoan palaces.
The excavation, in addition to exceptional art objects, has provided important information about the diet, the economy and the know-how of the inhabitants of the settlement, which during the 2nd millennium BC. it gradually developed into one of the most cosmopolitan commercial ports of the Eastern Mediterranean. The island continued to be inhabited during the Mycenaean era, as evidenced by surface pottery from the rocky hill of Monolith (14th - 12th centuries BC).
Dorians from Laconia and possibly Boeotia founded the unwalled ancient city of Thira on the Mesa Vounos hill (Agios Stefanos) in the 8th century BC. Its cemeteries in N. (Sellada), NE. and D.
On the eastern slope, a burial monument - a hero near the small Evangelismos church (Octagon), and a Hellenistic monument called "Platys Toikhos". Iroon in Perissa, near the Stavros church, where there is also a Byzantine basilica.
Important antiquities from ancient Thira are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum in Fira. The visitable ancient Thera is the city of the Hellenistic (3rd - 2nd century BC) and Roman times, with impressive ruins along a road axis from N. to S. On the south coast, near Cape Exo nito, ancient port facilities.
To the NW. part of the city has been excavated the so-called "barracks of the Ptolemaic guard" (it was probably a residence building for its overseer) and a Ptolemaic administration building, as well as the so-called "Palazzo", probably the residence of the admiral of the Ptolemaic fleet. Further south, the residential zone with luxurious houses with a peristyle.
The market on the main street is formed with three squares. The so-called "royal portico", 3rd c. BC, it probably housed the imperial cult in the middle of the 2nd century AD.
The temple of Dionysus (around 200 BC) housed the cult of Ptolemy VI and later (1st century BC - 1st century AD) the cult of the emperor.
All three temples to the north were dedicated to the imperial cult. On the eastern slope, the theater (2nd century BC) with a portico facing the road axis, thermal baths and shops. To the southeast, the sanctuaries of the city, the sanctuary of Ptolemy III (246 - 221 BC) the "market of the gods" with the archaic votive inscriptions carved into the rock, the high school for teenagers, the love inscriptions on the rocks (ca. 600 BC). In front of the temple of Karnei Apollonos, the ritual man - square where the nudist lessons of the teenagers in Karneia were held. In the SW. located is the location of the temple of Apollo Pythia (6th century BC), where a Christian church was later built. Immediately to the north the sanctuary of the Egyptian deities.
To the north of the city, the small church of Christ (Christoulaki) built on top of an ancient sanctuary (6th - 2nd century BC). Worship of Hellenistic times and in the neighboring cave of Pilarou. Outdoor mosque of Artemidoros in the natural rock with city emblems in relief. On the way to the entrance to the ancient city, a sanctuary of Aphrodite is excavated. Historical cemetery in Kamari. Temple of the 3rd c. BC of the goddess Vasilia between Emporio and Megalo Chorio is preserved at a sufficient height (it has been converted into a church of Agios Nikolaos Marmaritis). In Fira (Gymnasium), a stone tomb was found (end of the 3rd - beginning of the 4th century) with inscriptions mentioning the word "angel" (a crypto-Christian title). A three-aisled Early Christian basilica (perhaps the beginning of the 6th century) was excavated in Perissa.
Therasia
In the southern part of the island, a settlement of the Late Bronze Age (16th century BC) has been identified and partially excavated.
In the northern part of the island, architectural remains of the classical period have been identified.
Christiano
Remains of prehistoric times (end of 3rd millennium BC) were found.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou