Santorini’s History: From the Minoan Eruption to Today

Santorini is among a handful of places on Earth where a single geological event reshaped history so profoundly that its effects are still debated by archaeologists and historians today. What happened here in 1613 BC altered the course of the Bronze Age Aegean — and possibly the entire ancient world.

Before the Eruption: The Minoan Civilisation

In the centuries before 1613 BC, Santorini — then called Strongyli (round, for its circular shape) — hosted a sophisticated, densely populated city at what is now Akrotiri. The inhabitants lived in two and three-storey buildings with indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, and drainage systems. Their walls were covered in frescoes depicting boxing children, saffron gatherers, elegant women, and fleets of ships. This wasn’t a primitive settlement — it was an advanced Bronze Age urban centre connected by sea trade to Crete, Egypt, and the eastern Mediterranean.

Everything we know about this world comes from the excavations at Akrotiri, begun in 1967. Unlike Pompeii, no human remains were found — the population successfully evacuated before the volcano erupted. They took their valuables. What they left behind has been preserved almost perfectly for 3,600 years under volcanic ash.

The Minoan Eruption — 1613 BC

The eruption that destroyed Santorini was one of the largest in the past 10,000 years. The volcanic cone, which had stood over a thousand metres high, collapsed catastrophically inward — creating the caldera you see today. The blast ejected thousands of cubic kilometres of material into the atmosphere.

The effects reached across the known world: volcanic ash fell on Egypt, triggering acid rain and crop failure. The Pharaoh of the time was buried alive — his people believed a ruler who couldn’t prevent such divine punishment was not favoured by the gods. A “volcanic winter” followed as ash in the upper atmosphere blocked sunlight for months, dropping global temperatures by 3–4°C.

Most consequentially, the eruption generated a tsunami that reached the coast of Crete, devastating the Minoan civilisation there. Greek mythology attributes this to Poseidon, angered by the Minoans’ hubris in considering themselves equal to gods. The Minoan civilisation never fully recovered, and the balance of power in the Aegean shifted permanently.

Ancient Names and Settlements

After the eruption, the island was uninhabited for centuries. When settlers returned, they gave it new names: Kallisti (most beautiful) and eventually Thira, after a Spartan coloniser named Theras who established the first post-eruption settlement on the Mesa Vouno mountain (where Ancient Thera’s ruins still stand). The name Thira remains the island’s official name today.

The first post-eruption inhabitants lived in caves formed by volcanic ash cooling rapidly as it fell — the origin of the hyposkafa cave house architecture that defines Santorini to this day. The volcanic earth they lived in (Thiraiki gi) proved so structurally remarkable that centuries later it was mixed with cement to build the walls of the Suez Canal.

The Venetian Era — 1207 to 1566

After the Fourth Crusade and the fall of Constantinople in 1204, Venice took control of the Cyclades. The first Doge of the Aegean, Marco Sanudo, founded the Duchy of the Archipelago in 1207. Santorini was granted to the Barozzi family, who ruled it for 128 years (1207–1335), then passed to the Sanudi, then to the Crispi dynasty in 1387.

The Venetians transformed the island’s architecture. Facing constant pirate raids — Barbarossa and other infamous corsairs regularly attacked — they built five fortified villages called kastelia: at Oia (Kastro of Saint Nicholas), Imerovigli (Skaros), Pyrgos, Akrotiri, and Emporio. Each had: houses built wall-to-wall to form a defensive perimeter, labyrinthine lanes no wider than one or two people, a single entrance and exit, and observation towers (Emporio had an additional watchtower because it faced the most attacks).

The Venetians also promoted viticulture, and Santorini wine gained fame throughout Europe — particularly the sweet Vinsanto, made from sun-dried grapes, which was exported across the Mediterranean and traded as far as Russia.

Ottoman Rule and the Greek Revolution — 1566 to 1832

In 1566, after 359 years of Venetian/Frankish rule, the Ottoman Empire took control. Unlike many Aegean islands, Santorini was treated with relative leniency — the island continued its wine trade and maritime activities. In 1650, the Kolumbos underwater volcano (6.5km northeast of Oia) erupted spectacularly, creating tsunamis that reached Crete and covering the island in ash.

When the Greek War of Independence began in 1821, Santorini contributed massively to the naval effort — it became the third most important naval power of the revolution after Hydra and Spetses, providing ships and crews to the cause. On May 5, 1821 (feast day of Saint Irene, the island’s patron), the revolutionary flag was raised on Santorini. The island joined the new Greek state in 1827.

The Name Santorini

The name “Santorini” has an unexpected origin. When Frankish Crusaders stopped at the island during their travels, they replenished supplies near a church dedicated to Saint Irene in present-day Perissa. They called it “Santa Irini” — and when the Venetians arrived, they adopted and modified this name. Greeks gradually absorbed it as “Santorini,” which is how it’s known internationally, despite the official Greek name being Thira.

The Naval Golden Age of Oia — 18th and 19th Century

Between 1750 and 1900, Oia’s ship captains built one of the most formidable mercantile fleets in the Aegean — at its peak, 130–150 locally-owned sailing ships traded across the Black Sea, Russia, and the Mediterranean. The captains’ mansions (kapetanospita) that still line Oia’s caldera rim were built with the profits of this trade. The captains brought marble from the mainland to pave their village lanes, painted frescoes on their walls, and filled their mansions with porcelain and furniture collected from Egypt, Italy, and Romania. Oia sailors spoke Russian and Turkish — self-taught through years of trade voyages. The connection to Russia was so strong that many of the silver icons in Oia’s churches were gifts brought back from Orthodox Russia.

The 1956 Earthquake

On July 9, 1956, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Santorini, killing 53 people and destroying most of the island’s traditional villages. Imerovigli’s Skaros kasteli was obliterated. Pyrgos, Fira, and the northern villages suffered catastrophic damage. Many residents emigrated permanently — to Athens, Australia, and the United States. The island’s population dropped from about 18,000 to under 10,000 within a decade.

The earthquake also paradoxically preserved some of what remained: when rebuilding began, abandoned hyposkafa cave houses were not demolished but simply left, and today they’re among the island’s most photographed elements. The modern tourist infrastructure grew up around and through the ruins of the old island.

Santorini Today

Tourism overtook wine as the island’s primary industry in the 1980s. Today, Santorini receives approximately 3–4 million visitors annually against a permanent population of about 15,000 — one of the highest visitor-to-resident ratios of any destination in the world. The island’s 14 villages and 14 wineries, the ongoing excavations at Akrotiri, and the extraordinary caldera landscape continue to draw visitors from every continent. Scientists and volcanologists still monitor the island’s active volcanic system continuously — the last submarine eruption was in 1950.