Santorini is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption, which occurred about 3,600 years ago.
About Santorini in brief
Santorini is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago, which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera. It forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, with an area of approximately 73 km2 and a 2011 census population of 15,550. The island was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption, which occurred about 3,600 years ago. The present municipality of Thera was formed at the 2011 local government reform, by the merger of the former Oia and Thera municipalities. Santorini was named by the Latin Empire in the thirteenth century, and is a reference to Saint Irene, from the name of the old cathedral in the village of Perissa. It is the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains today is chiefly a water-filled calderA. The region first became volcanically active around 3-4 million years ago, though volcanism on Thera began around 2 million years years ago with the extrusion of dacitic lavas from vents around Akrotiri. The primary industry is tourism. Agriculture also forms part of its economy, and the island sustains a wine industry, based on the indigenous Assyrtiko grape variety. White varieties also include Athiri and Aidani, whereas red varieties include mavrotragano and mandilaria.
The volcanic arc is approximately 500 km long and 20 to 40 km wide. It formed during the Miocene and was folded and metamorphosed during the Alpine orogeny around 60 million years old. These non-volcanic rocks are exposed at Mikitis Ilro, the Gavrillos ridge, and Mon Mon, the inner side of the Ploderos wall between Cape and Athinios. The metamorphic grade is a blueschisties, which results from tectonic deformation by the subduction of the African Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate. The oceanic crust of Greece is being subducted under the Hellenic Sea, which is thin due to the Trenchduction zone southwest of Crete, southwest of Greece and under the African plate. The name Thera was revived in the nineteenth century as the official name, but the colloquial name Sant orini is still in popular use. It was known as Kallístē, Strongýlē, or Thēra before then, and it was also known as Thera, Thera and Therasia. The municipality ofThera includes an additional 12 local subdivisions on the islands: Akrotiris, Emporio, Episkopis Gonia,. Exo Gonia, Imerovigli, Karterados, Megalohori, Mesaria, Pyrgos Kallistis,Thera, Vothon, and Vourvoulos.
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This page is based on the article Santorini published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
