Greek Islands
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The town of Oia perched on the lip of a dormant volcano, Santorini - aka Thira - Greece's most unique island.
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Perched on the lip of a dormant volcano are Santorini's [or officially and classically known as Thira] two pretty labyrinthine towns of Fira and Oia [pictured]. This shot is from a ferry crossing the caldera [volcanic bowl], and, we Bugheads believe, the site of Atlantis - or rather the Atlantis legend, because the district/town that existed here was never called 'Atlantis'.
The Minoans were a very advanced seafaring culture, with head office in Crete and an important outpost in Thira [Santorini] since around 2,500 BC. Even now archaeologists are excavating Akrotiri, a Minoan site in the south of the island that was buried in the massive volcanic eruption in 1640BC. Building remnants reveal beautiful frescoes and a very sophisticated society that had street drains and inside toilets 3,500 years ago - not a feature in Europe until 100 years ago.
Plato learned of Atlantis from his grandfather and clearly got a few things wrong, such as the fact that Atlantis was larger than Africa and Asia combined, but other 'island within an island' and the worship of bulls facts fit the bill perfectly - as well as turning the Minotaur myth into something closer to reality.
This is not an island blessed with great beaches since volcanic material is black and holds the heat, unlike our favoured talcum powder sand. The best beach on the island is Red Beach, conveniently near the Akrotiri excavations that are definitely worth a look.
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