Santorini - The Black Pearl

Santorini, the “Black Pearl of the Aegean”, perhaps the most breathtaking of all the Greek islands.

Around 1500 BC a volcanic eruption caused the central part of the island to sink into the sea, leaving a crescent shaped rim of cliffs around the harbor formed in the volcano’s caldera. The sea is so deep at this spot that ships anchors do not touch bottom. The solid black rocks and the volcanic lava are now covered by famous vineyards and small whitewashed villages.

The town of Thera’s (or Fira) whitewashed houses, narrow streets, open-air cafes and glittering boutiques cling to these cliffs, accessible by cable-car or donkey. To the south is Akrotiri, where recent Minoan excavations support the theories that Santorini might be the fabled lost continent of Atlantis.

The beauty of Santorini must depend on light and line; there is hardly any vegetation apart from vines, and the volcanic earth has no charm of color, unlike the earth and rock of the limestone islands. Yet it has a strange and uncanny fascination of its own. It has rightly been called the black pearl of the Aegean. The sunsets of Santorini, with the Burnt Islands in the foreground, the islet of Thirassia behind, Sikinos and Folegandros farther off, and the great rock of Christiana, are among the most exciting aesthetic experiences that the Aegean can provide.