On the southern end of Santorini sits an archeological excavation site of the ancient Minoan city of Akrotiri. Dubbed the Greek Pompeii, it too was destroyed and preserved all at once by a volcanic eruption. Only ancient Akrotiri is much, much older than Pompeii. Ash and pumice from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried and destroyed Pompeii in 79AD. Ancient Akrotiri was settled sometime between 5000 – 3000 BC and was a thriving agricultural center where grains and olive oil were cultivated by around 2000 BC. In one of the largest volcanic events ever recorded on Earth, ancient Akrotiri was destroyed and the island collapsed creating the four mile wide caldera sometime around 1450 BC.
After the massive eruption of 1450 BC, Santorini remained uninhabited for around two centuries. It wasn’t until 1860 when workers quarrying volcanic ask for use in the Suez Canal discovered Akrotiri. Excavations didn’t begin until over 100 years later in 1967, under the direction of Professor Spyridon Marinatos of the University of Athens. Sadly, excavations had to halt in 2005 when a roof collapse killed a British tourist at the archaeological site. After being closed for 7 years, excavations resumed once again and the site was re-opened with a new steel and wood covering in April 2012.
So far only about 40 buildings have been uncovered and are estimated to account for just 1/30 of the site. Visitors to the site stroll down Main Street and we were given a rare glimpse into Minoan life. For an ancient city from 5000 BC, surely the oldest we’ve ever set foot it, we were surprised at how advanced the Minoans were. Plaques in four languages, including English, tell about the buildings, some up to three-stories tall, the pottery, and even the sewer system which surely must be the oldest in the world.
Mill House
Mill House
People Wander about the Mill House Complex
Pots (pithoi) were incredibly well preserved in the ash and many were found with traces of olive oil, onion, and even fish still inside indicating that these buildings were stores. The complex is called Mill House Square and we wandered between the almost fully excavated buildings and poked our heads inside to see the beautiful earthen jars left behind. What we guessed were tables lay off to the side, pumice clinging to them from the eruption.
The wealthy households were extensively decorated with frescoes and those too were incredibly preserved in the eruption. Most of the frescoes now reside in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and some can be seen at the Museum of Prehistoric Thira on Santorini. Pictures on the placards show which frescoes were found in the excavated buildings.
Pithoi Storeroom
Our favorite area of the excavation site was the Pithoi Storeroom. It was the first building brought to light in the excavation by Professor Spyridon Marinatos and full of large storage jars. It was determined that the structure was a three-story building and the presence of a preserved loom suggests that weaving took place there.
One thing that was never found at Akrotiri, unlike Pompeii, is human remains. It is believed that the Minoan residents had ample time to abandon the city before the volcanic explosion. Though it is said that the explosion was so powerful that not only were the Minoans on Santorini lost, but that the explosion also wiped out settlements on the coast of Crete, sent tidal waves washing over Egypt, and that the destruction was the basis for Plato’s story of the lost city of Atlantis. I don’t know if it is the lost city of Atlantis, but I do not it is not to be missed on a visit to Santorini!
Know Before You Go
- The ancient Akrotiri archaeological site is open Tuesday – Sunday from 10am – 5pm. Closed Mondays
- Entrance to Ancient Akrotiri is €5 per person.
- Plan for 1 – 1.5 hours to walk around the archeological site.
- Akrotiri can easily be reached with rental car or by local bus from the bus station in Fira. In summer buses run every 30 minutes and take approximately 35 minutes to reach Akrotiri for €1.70 each way.
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Jackie Humphries Smith says
What a great post! We love Greece (as evidenced by our blog) and the post I linked today. We've not yet visited here and now it is definitely on 'the list'.
Jackie Smith says
Meant to put that comment I wrote here: This is a very well written, informative post with great photos. Thanks much. Hope you’ll check out my link on this travel photo event to see another part of Greece. Look forward to more from you Jennifer!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks, Jackie! The gorge you wrote about looks beautiful and a hike right up our alley!
Ruth Kelly says
This place is amazing; how I would love to visit there.
Val Dawson says
Ok , all of your postings have convinced me to take another trip to Greece. Thank you!
Jennifer says
Sounds like our job is done, Val! 😉
Jennifer says
Danielle DeGarie Hope you make it to Akrotiri! It's unbelievable to see this ancient city being excavated.
Jennifer says
Thanks, Jackie! Another great thing to do is go sea kayaking to see the caves and lava formations from the various eruptions. Both are not to be missed!
Jennifer says
We hope you do get to visit, Ruth!
Ruth says
Loved your travel log.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks so much, Ruth, for the kind comment!
Danielle DeGarie says
I'm hoping to go to this one!
Shawna says
Oh my gosh, what an incredible site. I’m dying to hit up some great archaeological areas on my next trip and this is just making my mouth water! What incredible preservation too! Thanks for sharing this gem!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It is amazing that a city so old was so well preserved! Just absolutely fascinating that the design of pots and even the buildings is basically what we still use today. They seemed to be very advanced.
Sarah says
How did I go to Santorini and miss this? I. MUST. GO. BACK!
noel says
It’s amazing how much has been uncovered since I’ve visited there almost twenty years ago, need to go back again!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Oh my gosh, I can only imagine what the site looked like 20 years ago!
Amanda says
Great information, I have always been fascinated by the lost city of Atlantis and now this gives me one more reason to go to Greece 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Hope you make it to Greece soon, Amanda, and uncover more about the list city of Atlantis!
Raymond @ Man On The Lam says
Like the Donkey Boy up there, I too missed this on Santorini. ;(
Jennifer Dombrowski says
There were tourists, but not a ton like you see in Fira Town or Oia. I think the 7-year closure of the site has kept this off-the-tourist-radar.
Sarah says
I. MUST. GO. BACK! How did I go to Santorini and miss this?
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We hadn’t heard about the archaeological site on our first visit last year. The site only re-opened last April after being closed to the public for 7 years. Hope you make it back soon to see it!
Debbie at Travel with intent says
I went to Santorini many, many years ago. Akrotiri was fascinating and I will definitely go back.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It would certainly be interesting to return in a few years and see how much more has been excavated!
Andrea says
Fascinating! I love seeing excavations in progress
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was actually my first time seeing one in progress and it was so interesting!
Rhonda says
Great post. Archaeological sites are my favourite, however I didn’t get to see this one because it was still closed when I visited Santorini. Oh well, another excuse to go back (not that one ever needs an excuse to visit stunning Santorini!)
Jennifer Dombrowski says
And if you’re in Europe, it’s easier than ever to visit Santorini with flights starting at €29 each way on Volotea!
Heather says
How wonderful you got to see this! We went to Santorini in 2009 when the site was still closed. We’ll just have to go back 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Too bad it was closed still when you visited, Heather. It’s really interesting to see. Hope you make it back to Santorini!
Ali says
I really wanted to go there when I went to Santorini, but it was in 2008 and the site was closed. Next time!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Bummer! We hadn’t even heard about it when we visited last year on our cruise. Though it had only re-opened for about 2 months at that point. I’m really glad we spent time at Akrotiri. It was so interesting to see!