First inhabitants. Traces of their presence have been found at a number of locations, particularly the settlement of Akrotiri. (Archaeological Site of Akrotiri)
The settlement of Akrotiri takes on the characteristics of a large town and assumes a key role in sea trade, maturing into a sophisticated civilisation. (Detail of offering table, Museum of Prehistoric Thera)
The Minoan eruption buries the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri under thick layers of pumice and ash, leaving the island uninhabited for centuries. (Akrotiri. Flotilla. Section of miniature frieze, National Archaelogical Museum)
King Theras and a few dozen Spartans establish a colony at the top of Mesa Vouno and name the island Thera in his own honor. (Theran Geometric amphora, Museum of Prehistoric Thera)
The island moves into the sphere of influence of the Ptolemies, who transform it into an important naval base. (Inscribed Roman-era steles from Ancient Thera)
During the Byzantine period, Santorini becomes part of the Province of the Islands. (Church of Panagia Episkopi, the most important Byzantine monument on the island)
Continuous Arab raids on the coast force the inhabitants to move further inland, establishing new settlements. (Photo of Pyrgos)
The Muslim geographer Al Idrisi is the first to call the island – formerly known as Kallisti, Strongyle and Thera – Santorini (Santa Irini). (Detail of a map drawn by the geographer)
Following the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, Marco I Sanudo establishes the Duchy of the Archipelago. Thera and Thirasia are given as fiefdoms to Jacob Berozzi. (The family crest)
Annexed by Venice, seven years after being given as part of a dowry by the Duke of Naxos, Giacomo III, to the Duke of Crete, Domenico Pisani. (Venetian tower known in Ottoman times as “goulas”)
After years of Ottoman raids, including by the notorious pirate Barbarossa, Santorini is finally forced to recognize the sovereignty of the Sultan. (Detail of a copper engraving by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur)
Volcanic eruptions result in the formation of Nea Kameni, the tiny islet in the center of the caldera, which acquired its present form as recently as 1950.
Santorini becomes home to one of the largest merchant fleets in the Aegean. (View of Emborio in a tinted copper engraving from 1782)
Integration into the newly established Greek state. The island’s naval force participated in Greece’s liberation from Ottoman rule . (Watercolor by Aristides Glykas, Naval Maritime Museum, Oia)
The last recorded eruption results in the creation of the most recent volcanic rocks in Greece.
© Giorgos Ioakeimidis
The most powerful earthquake in Europe in the 20th century (7.8 on the Richter scale), its epicenter the nearby island of Amorgos, causes extensive damage. (A prayer after the earthquake)
© Walter Carone for Paris Match
The devastation of the volcano did not stop pioneers, fortune hunters and conquerors from sailing for Santorini’s shores through the centuries, attracted by its rich earth and location on the crossroads of the Aegean. Follow this brief visual timeline and get a sense of the various influences Santorini – formerly known as Kallisti, Strongyle, and Thera – has had over the centuries.
First inhabitants. Traces of their presence have been found at a number of locations, particularly the settlement of Akrotiri. (Archaeological Site of Akrotiri)
The settlement of Akrotiri takes on the characteristics of a large town and assumes a key role in sea trade, maturing into a sophisticated civilisation. (Detail of offering table, Museum of Prehistoric Thera)
The Minoan eruption buries the prehistoric settlement of Akrotiri under thick layers of pumice and ash, leaving the island uninhabited for centuries. (Akrotiri. Flotilla. Section of miniature frieze, National Archaelogical Museum)
King Theras and a few dozen Spartans establish a colony at the top of Mesa Vouno and name the island Thera in his own honor. (Theran Geometric amphora, Museum of Prehistoric Thera)
The island moves into the sphere of influence of the Ptolemies, who transform it into an important naval base. (Inscribed Roman-era steles from Ancient Thera)
During the Byzantine period, Santorini becomes part of the Province of the Islands. (Church of Panagia Episkopi, the most important Byzantine monument on the island)
Continuous Arab raids on the coast force the inhabitants to move further inland, establishing new settlements. (Photo of Pyrgos)
The Muslim geographer Al Idrisi is the first to call the island – formerly known as Kallisti, Strongyle and Thera – Santorini (Santa Irini). (Detail of a map drawn by the geographer)
Following the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, Marco I Sanudo establishes the Duchy of the Archipelago. Thera and Thirasia are given as fiefdoms to Jacob Berozzi. (The family crest)
Annexed by Venice, seven years after being given as part of a dowry by the Duke of Naxos, Giacomo III, to the Duke of Crete, Domenico Pisani. (Venetian tower known in Ottoman times as “goulas”)
After years of Ottoman raids, including by the notorious pirate Barbarossa, Santorini is finally forced to recognize the sovereignty of the Sultan. (Detail of a copper engraving by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur)
Volcanic eruptions result in the formation of Nea Kameni, the tiny islet in the center of the caldera, which acquired its present form as recently as 1950.
Santorini becomes home to one of the largest merchant fleets in the Aegean. (View of Emborio in a tinted copper engraving from 1782)
Integration into the newly established Greek state. The island’s naval force participated in Greece’s liberation from Ottoman rule . (Watercolor by Aristides Glykas, Naval Maritime Museum, Oia)
The last recorded eruption results in the creation of the most recent volcanic rocks in Greece.
© Giorgos Ioakeimidis
The most powerful earthquake in Europe in the 20th century (7.8 on the Richter scale), its epicenter the nearby island of Amorgos, causes extensive damage. (A prayer after the earthquake)
© Walter Carone for Paris Match
Acclaimed photographer Robert McCabe's images from Mykonos in the 1950s...
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