Santorini
Greek island in the Cyclades / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Santorini is an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. It is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Crete. The archipelago is made of five islands, Thira, Thirassia, Aspronissi, Palea, and Nea Kameni in the southern Cyclades.[1] Its volcano is among the few still active in Greece and Europe. These islands formed through intense volcanic activity, with twelve major eruptions happening roughly every 20,000 years. Each eruption caused the central part of the volcano to collapse, creating a large crater called a caldera. Despite this, the volcano repeatedly rebuilt itself.
The biggest of these is also called Santorini. Other names for the archipelago, and the island are Thera or Thira. The archipelago formed around a caldera. 13.600 people live there. The island has been settled for a long time, there are archeologial sites dating to Minoan times, and to the paleolithic. The volcano erupted around 1500 BC, and may have wiped out the Minoan culture there. The island was later resettled.