There is a superb view out from Fira to the Kamenes, the two islets of black stone created by the volcano. The islets can be visited by launch. Ancient Thira is a site of great archaeological interest which was occupied by Phoenicians, Dorians, Romans and Byzantines. Down the centre of the city runs the Sacred Way. The buildings include groups of houses, market-places, baths, theatres, sanctuaries, the residence of Ptolemy Euergetes, tombs of the Archaic and Classical periods and Early Christian remains. On the surrounding rocks the names of the god Apollo and of men and boys are inscribed in the ancient alphabet of Thira. The site at Akrotiri bas yielded the remains of a Minoan city destroyed around 1500 BC by an eruption of the volcano on Thira.

           

In effect, this is a prehistoric version of Pompeii buried beneath volcanic ash, with two and three-storeyed houses, with squares, shops, workshops and so on. Among the finds from the houses we re marvellous murals (on display in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens), vases, and everyday utensils. At the high east peak of Santorini is a monastery of the Prophet Elijah (Profitis Ilias), where there is a picturesque religious feast on 20July each year. The old-world village Oia, 11 km. to the north of Fira, is a place of incomparable beauty. The unique appeal of Oia lies in its little houses hewn out of the soft rock (some of them whitewashed, others painted blue or ochre), its neo-classical mansions with their court yards, its nar­row paved alleys. There is a superb view out to sea. Among the best bathing beaches ­some of them with black sand and others with pebbles - are Kamari or Armeni, Amoudi, Baxedes Perissa, Monolithos and Kokini Paralia. The natural environment, the unusual architecture and the outstanding monuments of Santorini attract very large numbers of visitors in the summer. How to get there: By ferry from Piraeus By air from Athens