Ancient Thera, Santorini

Ancient Thera, Santorini (Greece)

Ancient Thera is the name of an ancient perfectly round volcano island now known as Santorini. It was named after the mythical ruler of the island Theras and is known to have been inhabited by Greek Minoans as early as the 15th century BC when the volcano erupted resulting in a significant change to the shape of the island and killing many of the Minoan inhabitants. Starting in 1895 Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen systematically investigated the city until 1904. Later excavations by N. Zapheiropoulos between 1961 and 1982 under the auspices of the Archaeological Society of Athens unearthed the citys necropolis in Sellada. Findings from these excavations are on exhibit at the archaeological museum in Fira. Excavation work was again taken up between 1990 and 1994 under the leadership of Wolfram Hoepfner of the Free University of Berlin and resulted in a more precise understanding of the history of southern Aegean.