Santorini's high walls, draped by whitewashed villages, combined with a sunny climate and good observation conditions, have made it a magnet for volcanologists,[2] as well as a highlight of tourism in the Aegean.

[3] Non-volcanic rocks are exposed on Santorini at Mikro Profititis Ilias, Mesa Vouno, the Gavrillos ridge, Pirgos, Monolithos and the inner side of the caldera wall between Cape Plaka and Athinios.

Numerous minor and medium-sized, mainly effusive, eruptions have built the dark-colored lava shields of Nea and Palea Kameni inside the caldera.

[8] The huge Minoan eruption of Santorini in the 17th century BC may have inspired the legend of Atlantis.

[10] Following is a list of the major eruptive events of Santorini beginning with the catastrophic Minoan eruption, as noted by the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Global Volcanism Program:[6] In respect of it being 'one of the largest calderas in the Mediterranean Sea formed by Plinian eruptions in a volcanic arc tectonic framework', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included 'The Quaternary Santorini Caldera' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022.