Santorini

Santorini, also known as Thira, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea about 200 kilometers southeast of the mainland, the largest landmass in a circular group of islands formed by the Santorini caldera. It sits above the Hellenic volcanic arc and was built through repeated cycles of shield-volcano growth followed by caldera collapse, resting on a basement of metamorphosed limestone and schist. About 3,600 years ago the island was the site of the Minoan eruption, one of the most powerful volcanic events in recorded history, which expelled roughly 61 cubic kilometers of magma and rock and buried the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri in ash. Santorini remains the most active volcanic center in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, and today draws about two million visitors a year while its volcanic soils still support traditional viticulture.