Santorini

Lying on the southern part of Greece, Santorini is the southern most island of the Cycladic group in the Aegean Sea. It covers a surface area of 73 sq. km comprising 13 villages. The population of the island is distributed among these villages and it just exceeds a mere 13600 head count as per the 2001 census.


The massive volcanic activities on the island have resulted in the present crescent shape of the island. The island and the volcanoes are simply inseparable entities. As a matter of fact the formation of the island itself is the consequences of the volcanic eruption. One of the most developing civilization lay inside the Atlantics because of the huge eruption of lava around 3600 years ago in Santorini. The recent eruptions, in 1950 have resulted in the formation of two small islands within the region of the caldera; Palea and Nea Kameni.


The modern Santorini has its major settlements in Fira (Phira), Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Imerovigli, Pyrgos and Therasia. Akrotiri is another famed location in santorini which has shot to fame for its marvelous collection of archaeological site with ruins from the Minoan era.


Water is scarce in Santorini. The modern Santorini has an access to water from the distillation plant established in mid nineties. Prior to that the locals of the island used to collect the rain water fro their purpose. At times water had to be imported from other parts of Greece as well.


Tourism is the main industry of the island. The summers are very crowded as tourists from round the world visit Santorini for a memorable vacation. Also this island is home to a flourishing wine industry. The rare varieties of grapes found in the island provides the raw material for the industry. Assyrtiko and Vinsanto are the popular varieties of the wine being manufactured in the islands.


Santorini offers loads to explore for those who wants to add that 'extra' into their tour itinerary. For further information about Santorini, you can check out