“Greece 🇬🇷 ~Oia”
The history of Oia starts from the medieval period when St. Nicolas Castle was built here, to protect the northern part of the island. Back in those days, it was just the Castle, with no houses on the outside. For safety reasons, locals lived inside the Castle walls.
When the danger of being attack improved, in the 18th century, the population started building ships. In Ammoudi Bay, below Oia, locals established shipyards, and by the end of the 19th century, this village had the third largest fleet in Greece.
Ship Captains of Oia traveling abroad, were exporting sweet Vinsanto wine, and bringing back goods from far away exotic ports; treasures which could not be found in Santorini. It was during those times, the famous Captains’ Houses appeared.
The modern name; Oia, was only acquired at the beginning of 20th century. Oia in Greek, means “Blue Ferry Queen.” It is said, Santorini Island is shaped like a Ferry Queen
Most of the visitors come here to admire its unique architecture, captains’ houses, Blue Domes, cave-houses and sunsets.
Oia is famous for its chic and expensive restaurants and great shopping, too. In this town, one can find all the beautiful, quality, expensive and exclusive goods. Santorini, being visited by the rich and famous, as well as as regular folks of the world, every expensive world famous brand is presented here. Of course, this is more true, when there is no world-wide pandemic going on, causing lockdowns and closed borders.
This town hosts an incredible number of hotels, although at first glance, it would appear these are just the houses of the locals. The whole place is built along the cliffside of Oia.
We saw four tourists today; two here in the village and two at the grocery store, which was our last stop of the day. These are truly unprecedented days for many reasons. Normally, 50,000 tourist a day, during high season come to see what Santorini is all about.
The captains established their quarters, nearby, in a flatter part of the town, aside from the cliff. Still, this did not save them from a strong destructive earthquake of 1956, which caused their damage. Not all the captains’ mansions could be restored after that, leaving a memory of an event that changed the lives of the locals and the whole island.
The ones you see here, in their impressive beauty, were restored to be used as an attraction. The windmills are located on the “sunset part” of the island and are well visible from the ancient castle ruins
Since there was no wind on this day, it took a long while for the fog to dissipate
Dug into the red volcanic rock, underneath the picturesque village of Oia, beside, the crystal clear waters and the deep blue Aegean Sea lies the hidden gem of Santorini called Ammoudi. This was the main port of Oia during the 19th and the 20th century and all trade and commerce took place in this beautiful port; and Oia, thanks to its naval power, was exporting wine; the famous Vinsanto, and other products of the island, reaching as far as Russia
Today, Ammoudi is one of the most beautiful spots on the island
You can reach Ammoudi by climbing down the 214 steps from Oia’s castle, one of the best spots – and definitely the most famous one- to enjoy the magic of Santorini’s sunset, or from the road that connects Ammoudi with the rest of the island
Dug into the red volcanic rock, underneath the picturesque village of Oia, beside the crystal clear waters and the deep blue Aegean Sea lies the hidden gem of Santorini called Ammoudi. This was the main port of Oia during the 19th and the 20th century and all trade and commerce took place in this beautiful port. Due to its naval power of Oia, the exporting wine; the famous Vinsanto, and other products of the island, reached as far as Russia
Today Ammoudi is one of the most beautiful spots on the island; a must visit to dive in the azure waters of Agios Nikolaos
You can reach Ammoudi by climbing down the 214 steps from Oia’s castle, one of the best spots – and definitely the most famous one- to enjoy the magic of Santorini’s sunset, or from the road that connects Ammoudi with the rest of the island
During the Medieval age, piracy was a big threat for the inhabitants of Santorini. In preparation of danger coming, they preserved their crops into big underground pits, and hid themselves in the castle
This renowned site is nothing other than the Venetian Castle of Agios Nikolaos, which is named after a beautiful church carved in a rock, dedicated to Agios Nikolaos
Its existence dates back to the late 15th century when the menacing pirate raids were incessant. In that era. the Cycladic islands were under the rule of the Franks. The castle stood at the top of the settlement in order to serve as an observation point. It was very well fortified and there were remarkable residences inside, which belonged to the Venetian rulers
Nowadays, after the destructive earthquake of 1956 when great parts of the fortified settlement collapsed into the sea, there is only a part of its Goulas (watchtower) left
If interested:
Artist/Dimitris Kolioudis Athinakolioudis@yahoo.gr
A natural disaster of the 17th century BC; a terrible volcanic eruption, created the possibility of building bio-houses, at almost no expense. A thick layer of pumice, covering the island, protected poor people from the winds and other in climate weather, providing them with a warm place where water could not penetrate, easily.
The seamen living in those previous centuries could afford having a house only of that type, but the cave-houses were the ones that survived the earthquake of 1956, with no damage
Today, the cost to stay in such a cave with the famous Caldera view, is very expensive. In winter though, there’s no need of heating inside, while in summer there is a comfortable temperature, even without air-conditioning
Still, it is one of the richest churches in Santorini, with many icons; two of which are the miraculous icons of Virgin Mary
The name day of the church is celebrated on the 15th of August. On the eve you can see a religious procession
With the shroud of Virgin Mary
Most of the time Panagia Platsani is open for visitors except for the afternoon hours, Sundays and religious holidays, and pandemics
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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More
Such a beautiful place! Now on my list of places to go. I enjoy your stories and history.
So lovely to see new activity your travel blog, Santorini is truly stunning! Once the borders and restrictions are relaxed I’m hoping you’ll have a lovely honeymoon period of small crowds. At some point, though, it seems likely that people will begin to move more freely and then you might be stuck with the opposite. I’m not sure we’ll be doing any of the Disney parks until they figure out a way to manage the length of the lines (too long BEFORE the pandemic, cannot imagine what they’ll be like AFTER!!
We had a wonderful day, and loved exploring, once again. Having more than 4 days on Santorini, has been great… but deep down, missing out on 11 other country visits is very sad for us… it’s not easy traveling full-time and with my disabilities, I know I’m on borrowed time. I’m quite driven to see the world, before I’m unable to haul luggage around like we do.
You might be right, with a honeymoon period, but we are not sure what we will find with lodging and food availability… so many unknowns. We are still trying very hard to Not return to the states. If we don’t get an extension, to stay in the EU, we have to figure out another country… (so limited)
DL has been such a mob of people for so long.. but with the economy, not all will be able to afford the tickets…
Big hugs, Laurie!
Absolutely stunning!
Thank you.. it’s such a beautiful place to photograph!
It looks so beautiful and in one way you are lucky to have the time there without the crowds
We do appreciate this fact…. the peace and quiet, while we rest up is perfect!