The interesting names of Santorini

During the course of time Santorini,changed repeatedly not only shapes but names also.

At first the name of the island was Strongili ”The round one” because of its first shape.Strongili, was the victim of an enormous volcano eruption in 1,500 BC. The eruption was so huge that many consider it to be the main cause of the destruction of the great Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, situated 70 nautical miles away.The first Volcanic craters where formed 2,000,000 approx years ago,southwest of where Profitis Ilias is located today.During the years, the craters broke through the sea and then united to form what is now Akrotiri.After,an intense volcanic activity other craters were created to the north part of the already existing island.The volcanic soils and the natural stone islet pre-dating them began to unite and eventually one rounded  island was formed.

  The next name of the island was Kallisti or Kallisto ”The most beautiful”.According to Herodotus,the Phoenicians were so thrilled by the beauty of Santorini that they settled there and gave it its name.Of course,there is also a myth about it.Greek mythology,tells us that Euphemos (484-424 BC) ,Poseidon’s son received a clod of white soil from Triton,as a gift.Euphemos received a warning in the form of a clap of thunder and threw the soil into the sea.Because of this the island of Kalliste or ”the most fair” was formed.

   When the Turks occupied Greece (1579-1821) ,the island’s name changed again and became ”Dermetzik”.Dermetzik means small mill so it is likely that it came up from the windmills on the island.

   After the liberation of Greece in 1821, the official name of the island was established as ”Thira”.However,the maps abroad had the island marked as ”Santa Irini”,so from then the Greeks still refer to the island as Santorini.

*The name Thira or Thera came after king Theras of Sparta(484-424 BC) who also had lead colonists there .

*The name Santa Irini or Saint Irene was given by the Venetians (13th century) during the Crusades and the fall of Constantinople.