Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini

Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Santorini (Greece)

The Museum of Prehistoric Thera is located in Fira on the island of Santorini in Greece. It was built on the site of the old Ypapanti Church which was destroyed in the 1956 Amorgos earthquake. The Museum houses a very large number of ancient artifacts from various excavations on Santorini such as at Akrotiri and at the nearby Potamos site. The earliest excavations on Santorini were conducted by French geologist F. Fouque in 1867 after some local people found old artifacts at a quarry. Later in 1895-1900 the digs by German archeologist Baron Friedrich Hiller von Gaertringen revealed the ruins of ancient Thera on Mesa Vouno.[1] He focused on the settlements of the 9th century BC there believed to be a Spartan colony.