Santorini, Greece
The National Geographic Endeavour arrived shortly after seven this morning and moored beneath the towering cliffs of the idyllic Aegean volcanic island of Santorini. Its modern name is derived from the veneration of St. Irene but it was known in historical antiquity as Thera. The small archipelago is made up of remnants of a once massive volcanic caldera. The Bronze Age Minoans had established a flourishing outpost settlement here but around 1500 BC a cataclysmic eruption destroyed the island. This heralded the end of the entire Minoan civilization which had commercially dominated the eastern Mediterranean for over a thousand years from its main power base on the island of Crete. It has recently been calculated by an international team of scientists that this event was the second largest volcanic eruption on earth in human history, the blast from which would have been heard 3,000 miles away.
Tenders took us from the ship to a small landing facility where we boarded coaches for our morning tour of the island. Our first stop was at a local winery where we had an opportunity to sample some of its products. We drove then to the small picturesque village called Oia sited atop the cliffs overlooking the bay far below. This was a photographer's paradise with an endless variety of compositions along the narrow lanes and slopes where a veritable sea of white and blue painted buildings presented themselves. The late morning and early afternoon was spent exploring Fira, the capital town of Santorini. Here we well used the opportunity to stroll along its narrow lanes where an impressive collection of quality craft and artist shops are located or had lunch in one of the many excellent restaurants overlooking the bay and sister islands below. Access to the tenders which took us back to the ship was by cable cars or on foot down along a switch back series of steps leading down from the top ridge of the island.
This remarkably beautiful volcanic island was an aptly fitting stage on which to act out the closing scene of our remarkable journey along the captivating Dalmatian and Grecian coasts.
The National Geographic Endeavour arrived shortly after seven this morning and moored beneath the towering cliffs of the idyllic Aegean volcanic island of Santorini. Its modern name is derived from the veneration of St. Irene but it was known in historical antiquity as Thera. The small archipelago is made up of remnants of a once massive volcanic caldera. The Bronze Age Minoans had established a flourishing outpost settlement here but around 1500 BC a cataclysmic eruption destroyed the island. This heralded the end of the entire Minoan civilization which had commercially dominated the eastern Mediterranean for over a thousand years from its main power base on the island of Crete. It has recently been calculated by an international team of scientists that this event was the second largest volcanic eruption on earth in human history, the blast from which would have been heard 3,000 miles away.
Tenders took us from the ship to a small landing facility where we boarded coaches for our morning tour of the island. Our first stop was at a local winery where we had an opportunity to sample some of its products. We drove then to the small picturesque village called Oia sited atop the cliffs overlooking the bay far below. This was a photographer's paradise with an endless variety of compositions along the narrow lanes and slopes where a veritable sea of white and blue painted buildings presented themselves. The late morning and early afternoon was spent exploring Fira, the capital town of Santorini. Here we well used the opportunity to stroll along its narrow lanes where an impressive collection of quality craft and artist shops are located or had lunch in one of the many excellent restaurants overlooking the bay and sister islands below. Access to the tenders which took us back to the ship was by cable cars or on foot down along a switch back series of steps leading down from the top ridge of the island.
This remarkably beautiful volcanic island was an aptly fitting stage on which to act out the closing scene of our remarkable journey along the captivating Dalmatian and Grecian coasts.
