he history of Santorini is the history of a place which has the unlikely distinction of evolving and taking shape of itself and which does so constantly, even today. The volcano first manifested itself about 80.000 years or so ago. This first eruption was terrific. Apart from the ash, the crater expelled other, heavier substances, which covered the surface of the sea and joined with the excisting islets to form an approximately circular island with a diameter of 14 to 15 kilometers.

bout 3.000 B.C the island was inhabited by people who called it Strongyle (that means "round"). The volcano erupted for a second time, equally destructively , at 1450 B.C wiping out all the life on the island and sanking the greater part of Strongyle beneath the waves. All that was left above the surface of the sea were segments of its perimeter which today are called Santorini , Thirasia , and Aspronisi.

In order to get a concerte picture of the life of Strongyle inhabitants, all the visitor need to do is go at Akrotiri village, where a complete town, dating from this period, has been discovered under the ash. The visitor of the archaelogical site has the opportunity, throught the ruins found there, to come close to the roots of the Aegean civilization, the civilization of Europe.

owards the end of the 12th century B.C Dorians from Sparta arrived at the island under their king Theras, great-great-grandson of Oedipus. The island changed its name once more, and harbour, cities and temples rose. During the Hellinistic period ( 300-145 B.C.) Santorini was a naval base for the Ptolemies of Egypt. The ancient city of Thera, at Mesa Vouno dates from this time. Both the overlordship of the Ptolemies and the importance of Santorini as a base ended with the coming of Romans.

antorini was covered to Christianity in the 3rd century. The most worthwhile Byzantine monument to have survived is the elegant little church of Our Lady "Episkopi Gonia" built by the Emperor Alexios I Comnenus (1081-1118) on early Christian ruins.

he "Franks", as the Crusaders called in medieval Greece, arrived in 1204. Their capital was the Skaros fortress, and their arrival was the start of trials for the islanders. There were disputes between the Dukes of Naxos and of Santorini (the name dates from this period), attempts on the part of the Byzantine Empire to liberate the island, Turkish raids and outbursts of jealousy between Genoa and Venice.

In any case it was the islanders who footed the bill no matter who might be fighting whom. Life did become a little quiter when Santorini became part of the Ottoman Empire, in 1579. The Turks did not colonise the island that retained.

s piracy gradually died out, the island began to recover, to engage in trade and to acquire its own fleet. In 1821 the fleet of Santorini was the third largest in Greece with 5.000 tons. Alongside the human life of the island, the volcano continued to have a life of its own. Various craters in the center of caldera erupted from time to time. There were fourteen such eruptions of the volcano between 198 B.C. and 1950. Nowadays Santorini is an international resort that attracts people worldwide who come to experience its unique atmosphere.

Photos and text taken from "Santorini - Today and yesterday" (Toubis Editions)