About Santorini volcano

The volcano is what made Santorini what it is today. It continues to rule the caldera and attracts the attention of all visitors.

Here is what happened in a few words:

A huge eruption around 1650 BC, one of the largest in the last 10.000 years, followed by a collapse created the caldera. It was the same eruption that destroyed the Minoan civilization. Several eruptions later formed two small islands inside the caldera called Palea Kameni (Old Burnt in Greek) and Nea Kameni (New Burnt) as they are today.

Caldera - Created with the big VEI 6 minoan eruption of about 1650 BC
Palea Kameni - Formed with several eruptions during 197 BC and 1458 AD
Nea Kameni - Formed by the eruption detween 1707 AD and 1950 AD

What the locals call the volcano is Nea Kameni island.

Anyone can visit both Nea Kameni and Palea Kameni with one of the daily cruises sold at all travel agencies on the island, step his foot upon the youngest part of Europe (Nea Kameni last part was formed in 1939 and 1950) and swim in the hot springs of Palea Kameni.

Two excellent resources about Santorini volcano are:

Santorini by Volcano World
Santorini Decade Volcano


More information can be found at the following pages:

FORMATION OF SANTORINI
THE LATE BRONZE AGE ERUPTION OF THE SANTORINI VOLCANO
THE ERUPTION OF 1926
MINOAN TEFRA
ERUPTIONS OF THE VOLCANO
PALEA AND NEA KAMENI ISLANDS
DATE CONSIDERATIONS
1600 BC TSUNAMI
Pumice on south Mediterranean - remnant of the Thera eruption?
Remains of a Volcanic Cataclysm
Volcanic activity timetable until Minoan eruption
Volcanological Map of Palea and Nea Kameni
Creation of Palea and Nea Kameni
The Experiment of Santorini: Life to Mars from a Greek Island
The myth of Euphemus about the volcanic genesis of Thera
There is not only one Volcano in Santorini
Some Words on the Minoan Tsunami of Santorini
Quantitative morphology, recent evolution, and future activity of the Kameni Islands volcano, Santorini, Greece
How Old Tree Rings And Ancient Wood Are Helping Rewrite History

 

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