Santorini

Santorini of yester year | Volcanoes | Santorini today

 

Volcanoes

The archipelago made up of the islands of Thira, Thirassia, Aspronisi, Palaia and Nea Kameni (Volcanoes) is situated at the southern most point of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea.

Twelve huge eruptions occurred, one approximately every 20,000 years, each marking the creation of a new caldera by destroying a part of the original island of Strongyle. The volcanic activity on the island over the centuries formed its present-day shape with its rare geological peculiarities. Thus the two volcanic islets appeared in the centre of Caldera, first Palaia Kameni and then Nea Kameni.

 

The collapse of the central part created the locally-called ‘gremna’ (cliffs), the dark steep walls of Caldera with a height of 200-300 metres. On a boat trip across the dark blue waters of Caldera, one can see the various rock formations, the different layers of volcanic ash and the streams of lava which can be distinguished by the alternation of colours from red to black.
Today the volcano is dormant. There are seven craters in Nea Kameni, one in Palaia Kameni and a submarine crater near Oia called Columbia.