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| Ancient Thira : The Settlement |
| The second important period in the
history of Santorini is linked with the city of Ancient Thira.
The excavation there, begun in 1896 by Baron Hiller von Gaertringen
in the area of Mesa Vouno, revealed ruins of town which bore
evidence of settlement as early as 9th century BC. The mountain
of Profitis Ilias, Santorini's highest peak runs eastward into
the lower rocky outcropping of Mesa Vouno. These two mountains
are joined by a ridge named Sellada.
Mesa Vouno, with an altitude of 369 metres, extends from
west to south and its steep slopes plunge to coast at Kamari
to the north side and Perissa to the south.
This naturally fortified spot was an ideal place for the
Spartan colonists to found their city. They built two roads,
one to Kamari, where they had their port, and the other to
Perissa. The strategic location of the town was appreciated
later by the Ptolemies. In the 4th century BC, the most important
era in the history of the island, Ancient Thira was transformed
into an Egyptian naval base with the installation there of
a large garrison. |
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| The Excavations |
| Excavations in the area have brought
to light a Hellenistic settlement that stretched from north
- west to south - west. It was about 800 meters long its greatest
width was 150 meters and was split in two by a central street,
from which many side streets branched off.
Because of the sloping terrain, many of the alleyways were
stopped. Of the buildings that have been discovered, the public
ones were constructed of dressed limestone blocks, a material
found in abundance on the island, while private houses were
made of small stones of irregular shape. |
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| The Arts |
| The earliest art form found in Ancient
Thira is pottery from Geometric period. Thanks to the burial
customs many works of pottery have survived in reasonably good
condition. Thiran ceramics of that period and later, in the
oriental style, were influenced by neighbouring Naxos.
Nevertheless, the pottery from this time is perhaps the
only work that can be attributed to Thiran craftsmen. This
is because from the 5th century BC and afterwards, the development
of ceramics in other region (Attica, Rhodes, Corinth, Ionia)
and the location of Thira at a crossroads on trade routes
made it easy for the island to accept the wares of potters
of other regions, and so local production stagnated.
Apart from ceramics, examples of the plastic arts (sculptures)
have been also found in Thira. Although it developed after
pottery, perhaps because of the absence of the raw materials
needed, such as |
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