Greek Islands: Santorini & Crete (Page 2/4)
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Santorini Island (or Thira):

Left: Oia: Greek Orthodox Church in the main square.

Geologic & Human History of Santorini 

Humans first arrived around 3000 BC on this volcano known in ancient times as Thira. The island was a volcanic cone with a circular shoreline until 1646 BC, when one of earth's most violent explosions blasted ash all over the Mediterranean, sunk the center of the island, launched tidal waves, and may have ruined the Minoan civilization 70 miles away on Crete. Remarkably, volcanic ash dumped onto the volcano's flanks actually preserved the village of Akrotiri and its 3600-year-old frescoes from the Minoan era. These are some of the earliest known examples of world art history, which you can now view in museums. In 286 BC, the volcano split off Thirasia ("Little Thira") Island (to the West, left on map). The volcano began rebuilding, and in 197 BC the small center islet of Palia Kameni appeared. In 1707 AD, lava started forming Nea Kameni, the larger center island which erupted as recently as 1956 and caused a huge earthquake (7.8 on the Richter scale) which destroyed most of the houses in the towns of Fira and Oia. Fira and Oia have since been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture, attracting tourists from around the world.

Santorini Travel Tips

There is a lot to be said for keeping the itinerary flexible, researching all the possible lodging places ahead of time, and booking about 1 to 4 days ahead. That technique works great in popular New Zealand South Island in shoulder season (2007), and might also apply to popular Greece spots. Santorini is very popular (justifiably so), so you might want to reserve ahead like we did, or else you might end up paying a premium to find a place more spontaneously. We stayed several nights at Ecoxenia Studio Apartments, which was very enjoyable, inexpensive, one of the best values on the island, located on the sunset (West) side, very quiet in the countryside, non-urban, about a 15 minute walk or so (or short taxi ride) from Oia village, the most photogenic village on Santorini. I recomend the following lodging and transportation links: 

Left: A modern version of a fresco from 1500 BC: A man with fishes. [modern reproduction by Spanos, based upon the 53-inch high original]. Volcanic ash preserved Minoan era frescoes such as this at Akrotiri on Santorini Island.

Left: Fira: View of Nea Kameni Volcano and cruise ships in Santorini's sunken crater.

Carol and I explored Fira, which is a bustling tourist town, a port for cruise ships & Greek ferries, and the largest city on Santorini Island.

Above: Evening in Fira, Santorini. Published in September/October 2005 Sierra Magazine, Sierra Club Outings.

Winds of Greece

The scirocco winds from the south can turn the sky over Santorini reddish in color with dust swept from Africa. In summer, the winds shift and become the meltemi, which come from the north-east. On May 5, 2001, we experienced unusually strong 50 miles-per-hour winds from the west, the strongest wind that our hotel owner had ever seen in 10 years living in Oia, Santorini.

Below Left: Evening in Oia.     Below Right: Afternoon.


Left: Imerovigli village, adjacent to Fira, sits atop 1000-foot sea cliffs.

Left: Oia, Santorini Island.  Below right: The village of Oia perches on 700-foot high volcanic sea cliffs at the north end of Santorini Island.

Oia, Santorini Island: Southeast view across the caldera to the larger town of Fira.

Above: Homes and churches in the beautiful and romantic village of Oia, Santorini Island. After major destruction in a 1956 earthquate, the towns of Fira and Oia have both been rebuilt as multi-level mazes of fascinating whitewashed architecture. Published in June 2002 PC Photo Magazine.

Doors of Santorini

The Island of Crete:

Left: Restored Minoan pillar supports ruins of the Knossos palace.

I was glad that I read some of my wife's art history books before visiting Crete and the ruins of Knossos, since the visual sights aren't as striking until you know some of the important history.

Crete is the home of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoan, which was contemporary with nearby advanced Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures. The six-story Minoan Knossos palace complex on Crete probably originated the myths of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur (half man, half bull). Water pipes running 18 kilometers from mountains to the Knossos supplied the world's first known flush toilets and sewers by around 1500 BC, when the Minoans reached their peak. Three-story townhomes and the first known paved roads in Europe also indicate a wealthy, organized society. Archeaological evidence suggests that Minoan and earlier societies on Crete may have been remarkably peaceful:

• Towns on Crete had no fortifications for 1000 years.
• Few weapons have been found.
• Minoan art depicts nature (not violence), little social stratification, and prominent females and female dieties

A stone room with wood throne in the Knossos palace on Crete.

Minoan pithos (jar) from Olous (Ancient Elounda) 1600-1500 BC, Geneva Private Collection, seen in a shop on Crete.

Olive trees are native to the Mediterranean, and 50,000-year-old olive leaves have been found fossilized in lava on Santorini Island. Oil-producing olive varieties have been cultivated over 6000 years, starting with a sparse, thorny tree and ending with today's compact, thornless, and oil-rich varieties. The Minoans were some of the first people to get rich from olives. Unfortunately, the tap roots of olive trees cannot hold the soil like the surface roots of native forests, and planting of vast olive groves on mountainous terrain caused an environmental disaster: the topsoil washed away, resulting in the dry and rocky landscape you see throughout much of Greece today. Crete used to be 90% forest, but is now 17% forest. Humans have stripped the trees to clear space for olive plantations, to build ships and towns, and to burn for cooking. Big naval battles in wooden ships over thousands of years helped spur the demand that decimated the forests.

Heraklion, Crete: Venetian Fortress, Old Harbor boats.
 
 

Omalos, Crete: Hiking through a rock arch on Mount Gingilos, in the Lefka Ori Mountains.
 
 

Samaria Gorge is said to be the longest gorge in Europe, and it attracts hundreds of hikers daily. I found it to be as mildly interesting as a minor canyon in Utah, USA, with the addition of a beautiful and isolated coast at the end of the hike. If you prefer much fewer tourists and a more spectacular gorge, I strongly recommend hiking the Vikos Gorge in Northern Greece instead. If you want to experience better slot canyons than Samaria Gorge, I recommend the many wonderful canyons of Southern Utah, USA, such as the Paria River Canyon. Setting comparisons aside, Samaria Gorge is still one of the most interesting natural sights on Crete.

My favorite discovery on Crete was the carnivorous Dragon Lady plant (or Voodoo Lily, Sauromatum venosum, in the Araceae family), which is about 2 to 4 feet tall, has a green zebra-striped stalk, and a dark purple flower spike, at the base of which is a bowl of fluid that captures and dissolves insects for their nitrogen! In May, the Dragon Lady plant was in full bloom in the Samaria Gorge, and it was producing seed pods on the bluffs around Loutro, Crete. Many other spectacular flowers grow on Crete, such as the Star of Bethlehem Lilly (seen at Omalos). Walking on the coast near Loutro, the wonderfully rich aroma of thyme and other herbs wafted strongly around us on the most fragrant hike that I've ever experienced.

Left: Samaria Gorge: The purplish-red spathe and foul-smelling stench of dragon arum (Dracunculus vulgaris) (also called dragonwort, dragon lily, or voodoo lily) attracts flies to the base of its erect, flower-bearing spadix. The purple spadix can reach over a meter long.

In southwest Crete, the pretty port town of Loutro is only accessible by foot or ferry.
 
 

Crete: A goat

References:

• Greece, by Lonely Planet Publications, February 2000.
• The Greek Islands, by Insight Guides, APA Publications (HK) Ltd. 
• Commercial web site to help plan details of your Greece trip: www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/
• Fiction:
• Voice of the Goddess, by Judith Hand, Copyright February 2001. (Sequel: The Amazon Queen, Fall 2001.) Based upon archeological evidence expanded by imagination, this historical fiction and romance book brings alive the ancient era of the Minoans (whom are called "Keftians" in the book because the Egyptians of 1500 BC called Crete "Keftiu").

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