Only the southern tip of a large town has been uncovered, yet it has revealed complexes of multi-level buildings, streets, and squares with remains of walls standing as high as eight metres, all entombed in the solidified ash of the famous eruption of Thera.

Among more complete frescoes found in one house are two antelopes painted with a confident calligraphic line, a man holding fish strung by their gills, a flotilla of pleasure boats that are accompanied by leaping dolphins, and a scene of women sitting in the shade of light canopies.

In his Argonautica, written in Hellenistic Egypt in the third century BC, Apollonius Rhodius includes an origin and sovereignty myth of Thera being given by Triton in Libya to the Greek Argonaut Euphemus, son of Poseidon, in the form of a clod of dirt.

These inscriptions, found by Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen, have been thought by some archaeologists to be of a ritual, celebratory nature, because of their large size, careful construction and – in some cases – execution by craftsmen other than the authors.

This terrifying explosion was interpreted as a divine omen against the worship of religious icons[23][24] and gave the emperor Leo III the Isaurian the justification he needed to begin implementing his Iconoclasm policy.

[31] During the last years of Ottoman rule, the majority of residents were farmers and seafarers who exported their abundant produce, while the level of education was improving on the island, with the Monastery of Profitis Ilias being one of the most important monastic centres in the Cyclades.

[32] As part of its plans to foment a revolt against the Ottoman Empire and gain Greek Independence, Alexandros Ypsilantis, the head of the Filiki Eteria in early 1821, dispatched Dimitrios Themelis from Patmos and Evangelis Matzarakis ( –1824), a sea captain from Kefalonia who had Santorini connections to establish a network of supporters in the Cyclades.

[33] As his authority,[clarification needed] Matzarakis had a letter from Ypsilantis (dated 29 December 1820) addressed to the notables of Santorini and the Orthodox metropolitan bishop Zacharias Kyriakos (served 1814–1842).

At the time, the population of Santorini was divided between those who supported independence, and (particularly among the Catholics and non-Orthodox) those who were ambivalent or distrustful of a revolt being directed by Hydra and Spetses or were fearful of the sultan's revenge.

[34][35] While he was able to raise a large amount of money (double that collected on Naxos), he was soon found to lack the diplomatic skills needed to convince the islanders who had enjoyed considerable autonomy to now accept direction from a central authority and contribute tax revenue to it.

He claimed to his superiors that the islanders needed "political re-education" as they did not understand why they had to pay higher taxes than those levied under the Ottomans in order to support the struggle for independence.

Once they heard of massacres of the Greek population of Chios in April 1822, many islanders became fearful of Ottoman reprisals, with two villages stating they were prepared to surrender,[33] though sixteen monks from the Monastery of Profitis Ilias, led by their abbot Gerasimos Mavrommatis declared in writing their support for the revolt.

[36] Four commissioners for the Aegean islands (among them, Benjamin of Lesvos and Konstantinos Metaxas) appointed by the Provisional Administration of Greece arrived in July 1822 to investigate the issues on Santorini.

With news from Chios fresh in their minds the island's notables eventually arrested Metaxas, with the intention of handing him over to the Ottomans in order to prove their loyalty.

Matters became so heated that Antonios Barbarigos ( –1824) who had been serving in the First National Assembly at Epidaurus since 20 January 1820 was seriously wounded in the head by a knife attack on Santorini in October 1822 during a dispute between the factions.

[37][38] In general, the island's economy continued to decline following World War II, with a number of factories closing as a lot of industrial activity relocated to Athens.

The island's children would present arriving passengers with flowers and bid them happy sailing by lighting small lanterns along the steps from Fira down to the port, offering them a beautiful farewell spectacle.

[43] Immediately following the earthquake, the Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis declared Santorini a state of "large-scale local disaster" and visited the island to inspect the situation on 14 July.

[56] In Turkey, the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) and the Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate (MTA) warned that the earthquakes could lead to volcanic activity around the Kolumbo submarine volcano off Santorini.

These non-volcanic rocks are exposed at Mikros Profititis Ilias, Mesa Vouno, the Gavrillos ridge, Pyrgos, Monolithos, and the inner side of the caldera wall between Cape Plaka and Athinios.

[65] The inner coast around the caldera is a sheer precipice of more than 300 m (980 ft) drop at its highest, and exhibits the various layers of solidified lava on top of each other, and the main towns perched on the crest.

In their adaptation to their habitat, such vines are planted far apart, as their principal source of moisture is dew, and they often are trained in the shape of low-spiralling baskets, with the grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.

It matures to a sweet, dark, amber-orange unctuous dessert wine that has achieved worldwide fame, possessing the standard Assyrtiko aromas of citrus and minerals, layered with overtones of nuts, raisins, figs, honey, and tea.

[79] The traditional architecture of Santorini is similar to that of the other Cyclades, with low-lying cubical houses, made of local stone and whitewashed or limewashed with various volcanic ashes used as colours.

In response the islanders built their settlements at the highest, most inaccessible points, and very close to, or on top of, each other; while their external walls, devoid of openings, formed a protective perimeter around the village.

[82] There is a programme underway at a cost of €124 million as part of the Cyclades Interconnection Project to connect the island via a submarine cable to Naxos and hence by extension to the mainland system by 2023.

[90] This, combined with the small size of the island, the lack of rivers, and the nature of the soil, which is largely composed of volcanic ash, as well as the high summer temperatures meant that there was very little surface water.

Owing to the lack of water islanders developed non-irrigated crops such as vines and olives that could survive on only the scant moisture provided by the common early-morning fog condensing on the ground as dew.

[94] There are also a number of small autonomous drinking water production units with a capacity of 6 m3 (210 cu ft) per day located at Kamari, Emporio, Messaria and Thirasia Island.

[98] Santorini inspired French pop singer-songwriter Nolwenn Leroy for her song "Mystère", released on her 2005 album Histoires Naturelles ("Aux criques de Santorin").