Santorini

South Aegean, Greece

Entering the caldera with a view on Fira, the capital. Volcanism in the area of Santorini started about 2 million years ago when the first eruptions occurred from the sea floor in the area of the Akrotiri Peninsula. The great Minoan eruption, that shaped the current island, was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption Dated to the mid-second millennium BC, the eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history. It devastated the island of Thera (now called Santorini), including nearby islands and the coast of Crete with a related earthquake and tsunami. Legends • Spyridon Marinatos, the discoverer of the Akrotiri archaeological site, suggested that the Minoan eruption is reflected in Plato's story of “Atlantis”, the kingdom that sank in the ocean. • Geologist Barbara J. Sivertsen sees a link between the great eruption of Santorini and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, that took place in the same period.