Excursions to the Santorini volcano: it is still smoking! Eruption of Santorini: the death of Atlantis and the Minoan civilization Eruption of Thira.
On the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea there is the Santorini volcano of the same name. Now there is a small trace left of it, an ancient caldera, but previously there was a huge volcanic cone here:
Santorini is an active shield volcano on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, the eruption of which led to the destruction of Aegean cities and settlements on the islands of Crete, Thira and the Mediterranean coast. The eruption dates back to 1645-1600 BC. e. (according to different estimates).
The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, volumetric pyroclastic flows and a tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely emptied its interior, after which its cone, unable to withstand its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, into which sea waters poured in after it. The resulting giant wave, about 18 meters high (wikipedia says up to 100 m), swept across the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of the island of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all settlements on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other countries of the Mediterranean Sea, stopping the development of mankind for a long thousand years.
After the eruption of Santorini, many other events took place in the center of the resulting caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today, Santorini exhibits constant seismic activity, and fumaroles and hydrothermal vents are still active on some of its islands.
The largest Minoan eruption in ancient history on the island of Thira, or Thira, occurred in 1628 BC. e. (dendrochronological date). The next - the most powerful - happened in 1380 BC. e. (date approximate). The last one happened in 1950.
From what I've heard, dendrochronology can date events only a few hundred years ago. There are simply no thousand-year-old trees in the right quantity in the right place.
Geologists have discovered how the explosion of a supervolcano caused the “great flood” on Crete
Before the eruption of the supervolcano, the modern archipelago of Santorini was a single island. Scientists found that the eruption occurred almost instantly by geological standards - in just 100 years, the magma chamber under the island was filled with “fresh” molten rocks, which heated up local magma reserves, causing it to expand and literally tear the island apart.
An unusual “channel” in the northwestern part of the archipelago, which scientists discovered underwater, told them about what happened to the island and the surrounding ocean during the eruption and in the first days after the disaster.
For example, the unusually deep walls of this channel and its structure indicated that the walls of the supervolcano on the island of Santorini collapsed even before sea water rushed inside its exploding vent. This means that the tsunami, which was supposedly caused by the destruction of the island and the fall of its “debris” into the Aegean Sea, was generated in a completely different way.
Scientists have no doubt that this tsunami really existed - its occurrence is clearly evidenced by traces of sea water and sand in the Minoan palaces of Crete, where it could only reach if the height of the waves near the shore exceeded ten meters.
Scientists found traces of this event in the center of the former volcanic crater, and a few hundred meters from the shores of the archipelago.
As analysis of rocks in the central part of the former island showed, in the first stages of the eruption, part of Santorini exploded due to the fact that in the central part of the island there was a lagoon with sea water, which became the first “victim” of hot magma rising from the bowels of the Earth. This explosion led to the fact that the southern part of the former island was literally instantly flooded with powerful outpourings of magma, whose volume exceeded 16 cubic kilometers.
They eventually “slipped” into the Aegean Sea, covering the bottom off the southern coast of Santorini with a 60-meter layer of new rocks, and caused a powerful tsunami, the wave height of which at the former island exceeded 35 meters, decreasing to about ten meters when they reached coast of Crete.
Almost immediately after this, the walls of the volcano collapsed, after which the sea broke through a “dam” of volcanic ash that had formed near the north-eastern channel at the bottom of the modern sea. Its waters began to fill the resulting basin, filling it completely with water in just 40 minutes if the depth of the channel was the same as it is today. Such a rapid course of such geological disasters, as scientists note, suggests that supervolcanoes, especially their island variety, should be given special attention.
As you can see, scientists and historians blamed the death of the Minoan civilization on this (in the past) volcano. They say that it was destroyed by a flood, a tsunami from the eruption.
Irregularly shaped failure of the volcano cone.
And it looks like a flooded quarry
Calcareous hills are adjacent to tuff hills
Central Island
Santorini is part of the Cyclades group of islands
List of minerals found on the islands:
But there are no samples analyzed for metals.
I propose to see the excavations and remains of the structure of the Kroto-Minoan culture, which was destroyed by this volcano:
According to the first signs, the territory is quite far from the sea, respectively, higher than 10m above it
The fact that it was destroyed by a flood or mudflow is beyond doubt among archaeologists. But could a wave 10m high reach these buildings? If the volume of water was large, then its inertia could drag the mudflow here too.
Excavations of this complex from above
During excavations
After. Already glued and restored jugs
It is possible that the entire Mediterranean coast suffered from this cataclysm. And traces of destruction and flood along its entire coast are the consequences of this event.
Santorini is an island with a rich history. Researchers claim that people have inhabited this island since Neolithic times. Around 3200 BC Cretans lived on the island. Their influence became obvious during the excavations of Akrotiri - they found a village with identical architecture to the houses that were excavated in the Minoan palace on Crete.
At that time, due to its shape, the island was called Stronghyle or Strongili, which means “round” in Greek. But 1500 B.C. everything has changed. The peaceful course of life of the ancient world was disrupted by a monstrous explosion of a volcano, which was located in the very center of the island. As a result, most of the island sank, forming the famous caldera (the largest in the world). The island is no longer round, and the small islands formed around the perimeter are now called Santorini, Aspronisi and Thirasia.
Excavations at Akrotiri began in 1956. A team of archaeologists led by Spyros Marinatos unearthed a well-preserved city that was completely buried under volcanic ash. The tidal wave from the eruption was so huge that it reached Crete (70 nautical miles, for a minute). Many scientists believe that the explosion contributed to the collapse of the Minoan civilization. And someone seriously thinks that it was there, in the unique caldera of Santorini, that Atlantis sank.
After the explosion, the Dorians settled the island and named it Thera, in honor of their king.
Christianity came to the island only in the 3rd century AD. An important monument of that period is the small graceful church of Panagia. During the same period, the Crusaders changed the name of the island to Santorini, building a small chapel of Hagia Irene.
In the 18th century, the island began to actively develop. Industry began to grow. Santorini processed tomatoes, produced wine and textiles. At this time, life on the island was peaceful, apart from the occupation by German troops during World War II. All this time the volcano continued to erupt and created the small islands of Pelea and Nea Kameni.
Tourism began to actively develop in Santorini in the late 1970s. Every year 1.5 million tourists come here to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the island and the famous sunsets.
Locals still call the island Thira, so don't be surprised if you see this name on ferry schedules. Just remember that Thira = Santorini.
A little more about the volcano
It is known that the volcano on Santorini exploded more than once. After such explosions, magma filled the caldera and a new explosion occurred.
A caldera is a large crater formed after the explosion of a volcano.
Each time the caldera deepened. After one of these explosions, magma slowly filled the old caldera, creating the round island of Stronghyle. Ultimately, the center of the island collapsed once again, forming the modern Santorini caldera, which is again slowly filling with cooling magma.
At the moment, the area of the caldera on Santorini is about 48 square meters. km, and the depth is from 300 to 600 meters. The depth of water in the caldera is from 150 to 350 meters.
Those. in fact, Santorini is a volcano, perhaps the largest in the world and still active.
On the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea there is the Santorini volcano of the same name. Now there is a small trace left of it, an ancient caldera, but previously there was a huge volcanic cone here:
Santorini is an active shield volcano on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, the eruption of which led to the destruction of Aegean cities and settlements on the islands of Crete, Thira and the Mediterranean coast. The eruption dates back to 1645-1600 BC. e. (according to different estimates).
The collapse of the caldera is associated with intense seismic activity, volumetric pyroclastic flows and a tsunami that washed away all coastal settlements. During the eruption, the Santorini volcano completely emptied its interior, after which its cone, unable to withstand its own weight, collapsed into an empty magma reservoir, into which sea waters poured in after it. The resulting giant wave, about 18 meters high (wikipedia says up to 100 m), swept across the Cyclades archipelago and reached the northern coast of the island of Crete. The tsunami destroyed all settlements on the islands of the Aegean Sea, and also affected the shores of Egypt and other countries of the Mediterranean Sea, stopping the development of mankind for a long thousand years.
After the eruption of Santorini, many other events took place in the center of the resulting caldera. Some of them affected the archipelago in the 19th and 20th centuries. In particular, the last major eruption occurred in 1950. Today, Santorini exhibits constant seismic activity, and fumaroles and hydrothermal vents are still active on some of its islands.
The largest Minoan eruption in ancient history on the island of Thira, or Thira, occurred in 1628 BC. e. (dendrochronological date). The next - the most powerful - happened in 1380 BC. e. (date approximate). The last one happened in 1950.
From what I've heard, dendrochronology can date events only a few hundred years ago. There are simply no thousand-year-old trees in the right quantity in the right place.
Geologists have discovered how the explosion of a supervolcano caused the “great flood” on Crete
Before the eruption of the supervolcano, the modern archipelago of Santorini was a single island. Scientists found that the eruption occurred almost instantly by geological standards - in just 100 years, the magma chamber under the island was filled with “fresh” molten rocks, which heated up local magma reserves, causing it to expand and literally tear the island apart.
An unusual “channel” in the northwestern part of the archipelago, which scientists discovered underwater, told them about what happened to the island and the surrounding ocean during the eruption and in the first days after the disaster.
For example, the unusually deep walls of this channel and its structure indicated that the walls of the supervolcano on the island of Santorini collapsed even before sea water rushed inside its exploding vent. This means that the tsunami, which was supposedly caused by the destruction of the island and the fall of its “debris” into the Aegean Sea, was generated in a completely different way.
Scientists have no doubt that this tsunami really existed - its occurrence is clearly evidenced by traces of sea water and sand in the Minoan palaces of Crete, where it could only reach if the height of the waves near the shore exceeded ten meters.
Scientists found traces of this event in the center of the former volcanic crater, and a few hundred meters from the shores of the archipelago.
As analysis of rocks in the central part of the former island showed, in the first stages of the eruption, part of Santorini exploded due to the fact that in the central part of the island there was a lagoon with sea water, which became the first “victim” of hot magma rising from the bowels of the Earth. This explosion led to the fact that the southern part of the former island was literally instantly flooded with powerful outpourings of magma, whose volume exceeded 16 cubic kilometers.
They eventually “slipped” into the Aegean Sea, covering the bottom off the southern coast of Santorini with a 60-meter layer of new rocks, and caused a powerful tsunami, the wave height of which at the former island exceeded 35 meters, decreasing to about ten meters when they reached coast of Crete.
Almost immediately after this, the walls of the volcano collapsed, after which the sea broke through the “dam” of volcanic ash, which had formed near the north-eastern channel at the bottom of the modern sea. Its waters began to fill the resulting basin, filling it completely with water in just 40 minutes if the depth of the channel was the same as it is today. Such a rapid course of such geological disasters, as scientists note, suggests that supervolcanoes, especially their island variety, should be given special attention.
As you can see, scientists and historians blamed the death of the Minoan civilization on this (in the past) volcano. They say that it was destroyed by a flood, a tsunami from the eruption.
Irregularly shaped failure of the volcano cone.
And it looks like a flooded quarry
Calcareous hills are adjacent to tuff hills
Central Island
Santorini is part of the Cyclades group of islands
List of minerals found on the islands:
But there are no samples analyzed for metals.
I propose to see the excavations and remains of the structure of the Kroto-Minoan culture, which was destroyed by this volcano:
According to the first signs, the territory is quite far from the sea, respectively, higher than 10m above it
The fact that it was destroyed by a flood or mudflow is beyond doubt among archaeologists. But could a wave 10m high reach these buildings? If the volume of water was large, then its inertia could drag the mudflow here too.
Excavations of this complex from above
During excavations
After. Already glued and restored jugs
It is possible that the entire Mediterranean coast suffered from this cataclysm. And traces of destruction and flood along its entire coast are the consequences of this event.
Sources:
Take a ferry to the beautiful Greek islands of Santorini and you will see a truly unique landscape created by the late Bronze Age cataclysm. To the north and south, your ship will leave the sparkling blue waters of the Aegean Sea and enter a natural harbor surrounded by majestic cliffs. The ferry will pass between the larger island of Santorini and the smaller one - Thirasia, and right in front of you you will see a small island in the center of a natural harbor - Nea Kameni. It looks like a hillock surrounded by mountains.
While on Nea Kameni, among the hot springs and sulfur vents, you will be able to understand the natural history and formation of this island. Harbors, cliffs, elegant white houses with blue roofs - they are all part of a huge volcano.
Did you know that in the middle of the second millennium BC, the islands of Santorini literally exploded? This was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history. In the last 800 years, only the Tambora volcano in Indonesia has erupted with such force. It is responsible for the global "year without a summer" in 1816.
The eruption created a devastating tsunami across the eastern Mediterranean, which hit the Minoans living on Crete. At that time, the Minoans were one of the most advanced civilizations in the world.
How could a caldera appear?
The Santorini volcano is a caldera. This is a type of volcano that erupts with such force that its central part collapses, creating a huge crater. The appearance of this crater is of most interest to scientist Paraskevi Nomikou and his colleagues. Scientists have published high-resolution maps of the seafloor and supplemented them with seismic evidence. They say that the rock of the seabed is made of caldera. This allows us to make assumptions about how the volcano collapsed, filled with water and possibly caused a tsunami.
There was no modern caldera before the eruption. Instead, there was a much smaller caldera, which remained from an older eruption. It formed lagoons in the north of a single island. Not far from the modern city of Akrotiri there was a Minoan settlement - a bustling city with three-story buildings, narrow streets and courtyards. It was quite different from the palace complexes found on Crete. Prehistoric Akrotiri may have been home to hundreds or thousands of people, and was probably an important trading port for the eastern Mediterranean.
Warning for the Minoans
The first eruption sent a huge column of ash high into the sky, which descended back onto settlements and farmland. This terrible, but not catastrophic, stage of the eruption became an early warning for local residents and forced them to leave the island. Archaeologists were unable to find any bodies, suggesting that the inhabitants likely fled.
As the volcano continued to spew ash into the air, it accumulated on the island. Imagine a heavy downpour of ash and dust that shows no sign of stopping. But when the ash column reached its maximum height, it entered the stratosphere and began to drift east. Ash from this eruption has been found in Turkey, the Aegean islands and Crete.
Lava flows
The next stage of the eruption was pyroclastic flows - hot slides of volcanic material that move faster than Formula 1 cars. They blocked the strait in the northwest and isolated the caldera from the Mediterranean Sea.
The force of the eruption continued to grow, and pyroclastic flows erupted from several vents. Lava flows reached 60 meters thick (about the height of 14 double-decker buses) and swallowed up the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, creating a Bronze Age Pompeii and a window of sorts into the ancient civilization of the 1600s BC.
Destructive tsunami
It was at this stage, as scientists suggest, that a tsunami began to form. Waves nine meters high tore through the northern part of Crete (which is 120 km away from the volcano), leaving devastation and debris in its path. The tsunami may have reached western Turkey and even Israel.
Formation of a modern picture
Eventually, the sea calmed, the eruption ended, and the modern caldera began to form. Seashore erosion and a catastrophic landslide opened the northwest strait, and water from the surrounding Mediterranean filled the caldera within days. Further landslides formed the southwestern straits. It took several more thousand years for the formation of modern geography to be completed, as the active volcano Nea Kameni continued to gradually erupt above sea level.
How did the eruption affect the Minoan civilization?
Although this eruption was catastrophic, terrifying, and possibly life-altering for large numbers of people, the Minoans themselves did not go extinct. Although there were no further settlements on Santorini, the discovered pottery confirms that civilization existed on Crete for several more generations. But for a society built on maritime trade, the loss of the port of Santorini, which had direct links with Cyprus, led to a weakening position among the trading powers of the eastern Mediterranean.
Hello friends! Today is our review of the excursion to the Santorini volcano, to the terrible black islands in the caldera. Frankly, we weren’t planning on going there, but the price of 26 euros won us over - a cheap opportunity to get to the Nea Kameni volcano, the same one that everyone takes pictures of from the main island.
Excursions to the Santorini volcano: what options and prices
We did not plan to buy excursions to Santorini. However, in one of the tourist offices where we bought ferry tickets, we saw an advertising booklet with interesting excursions to the Santorini volcano:
- option 1: excursion to the volcano only for 18 euros per person;
- option 2: excursion to the volcano and hot springs for 20 euros, from 11 or 14 hours for 3 hours;
- option 3: excursion to the volcano, hot springs and Thirassia island for 26 euros, from 10:45 to 16:15;
- option 4: excursion to the volcano and hot springs, watching the sunset on the ship with a glass of local wine - 35 euros, from 15:30 until dark.
We liked these options both in terms of price and content. The excursions start from the Old Port of Thira; you have to get to the port on your own.
You can book the same or similar excursion at any travel agency on the island.
There are excursions to the Santorini volcano that start from the New Port of Atina and include transfers from and back to the collection points. We did not specify where the collection points are, but we think there should be quite a few of them. So, excursions to the Santorini volcano with transfer:
- option 5: excursion to the volcano, hot springs and Thirassia island for 35 euros, from 10:30 to 17:30;
- option 6: the same thing, only at the end of the excursion they go not to the New Port, but to the port of Oia, watching the sunset in Oia and driving around the collection points - 38 euros; from 10:30, ending after sunset.
We chose between 2, 3 and 4 options and settled on the third for 26 euros per person. And this is what it looked like :)
Let's start, everyone! That is, to the port
Places that we must visit during the excursion to the Santorini volcano, on the map:
So, first you need to get to the Old Port of Fira. There are three ways to do this: on foot up several hundred steps, by cable car, or by donkey. We chose the first option and were right: there are beautiful views along the way. And, of course, there are many donkeys and mules ready to carry tourists in any direction. “Only five euros to the Old Port!” - the drovers offer on every corner. But why do we need them, we are going down!
The donkeys on the steps huddle against one wall, the tourists against the other :)
The funicular to the Old Port of Santorini is always in demand. But we at Uehali.com think it's boring!
And here is the Nea Kameni volcano, to which we are now sailing!
After almost half an hour of descent - going down the steps is not as easy as one might think - we are in the Old Port. There are a lot of people, they all came to go on an excursion to the volcano.
The most modest port we have ever seen.
At the office we were told where we would need to go to show the voucher (excursions to Santorini are fully paid in advance). The guide groups tourists and from half past ten begins to seat them on arriving ships. Well, it's starting, hurray!
I love excursions like this, where people from all over the world gather. And everyone speaks/understands English :)
We are on Nea Kameni. This is tough
The island of Nea Kameni is the main attraction of the excursion to the Santorini volcano. Since we use the word “volcano,” some clarification is in order. Many millennia ago, there was a single island in this place with a tall active volcano. And one day there was an eruption of unprecedented force. Lava soared up tens of kilometers, in fact, the entire volcano exploded from the inside. The mountain completely collapsed, and not only on the surface of the earth, but “from the roots” - in its place a pit several hundred meters deep was formed, and it was flooded by the sea. This is how the famous Caldera appeared.
If you look at the map, you will notice that the island of Santorini and the islands closest to it form a circle - once in their place there was land with a large mountain.
So in a strict sense, all these islands are part of one volcano. And in the everyday sense, a volcano is an uninhabited, lifeless and completely black island sticking out in the middle of the Nea Kameni caldera. That's what we came for.
The stop at Nea Kameni lasted about two hours.
There are trodden paths on the island; You could walk either with a guide or on your own.
We first walked on our own, and then joined the group to listen to the guide’s story.
You know, we were really scared. No, we were not afraid of an eruption when we arrived. We were scared to imagine how wild that prehistoric spectacle was, to which there were no witnesses left...
In some places, light smoke with the smell of hydrogen sulfide comes from under the surface.
Even such sparse, withered and dirty-gray vegetation causes bewilderment: how did something like this even appear here?
We smiled there just for the photo.
Still, no, this place is not romantic - Santorini...
We get dirty in our swimsuit, relax in Palea Kameni, moor at Oia
We are back on the ship and sailing to the hot springs to the neighboring island - Palea Kameni. It is also uninhabited (the church does not count), there is no vegetation. The guide on the ship is broadcasting through a bullhorn that you need to swim in the hot springs in dark swimsuits: they say there will be indelible color stains.
We half confirm: the stains actually appeared, and on green fabric. But then they washed off in the most ordinary way :) However, we do not recommend experimenting with white swimsuits.
And how (and for whom?) did they build a church there?
The yellower the water, the higher its temperature.
Next stop is the island of Thirasia. Time on the island is about two hours. The guide says that you can climb the stairs to the village, but we don’t need it. And no one, in my opinion, went.
And here is another inhabited island - Thirassia. Here excursion ships stop for lunch.
Guests are already waiting for guests on Tirassia: there are a dozen cafes at the pier, all with seafood of varying degrees of appetizing on display.
Lunch is not included in the excursion, only delivery to the cafe is included. Thank you, uncle, but we have lunch with us!
There are some semblance of beaches on the island, but swimming and sunbathing are inconvenient. In short, if not for this nice photo, one could consider it a stop for show.
This is the end of our excursion to the Santorini volcano! Then the ship proceeds to the port of Oia, where you can disembark if you want to take a walk through one of the most beautiful villages in all of Greece. That's what we did.
From the sea, Oya looks impregnable and harsh.
But the closer, the more welcoming :)
Advice to dear readers: If, by the will of fate, you find yourself in the port of Oia, do not spare 5 euros for a donkey, your legs and heart will later tell you “Thank you so much, master!” The climb to the top is steep and consists of more than 300 steps. When we saw the red-faced, gasping people at the very top, we felt sorry for them.
