Page 214 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Greek Islands

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Ancient Thera
STAY ⌂ 11 km (7 miles) SW of Firá
@ To Kamári # 8:30am–
Esperas Traditional 2:30pm Tue–Sun ¢ Main
Houses public hols
Studios, houses and On the rocky headland of Mésa
EXPERIENCE The Cyclades central pool. Excellent the Dorian town of Ancient
suites are dug into the
Vounó, 370 m (1,215 ft) on the
cliff, arranged around a
southeast coast, the ruins of
on-site restaurant.
Thera are visible on terraces
⌂ Ía, western end of
above the sea. The ancient
village ∑ esperas-
town was recolonized in the
santorini.com
8th century BC after the great
eruption. Most of the ruins
¡¡¡
Egyptian Ptolemies. The 7th-
Voreina Gallery
century Santoríni vases that
Suites date from the rule of the
There are compelling were discovered here are now
views from the giant housed in Firá’s Archaeo logical
suites and four villas. Museum (p210).
In most of the suites, A path through the site
breakfast is delivered to passes an early Christian
your plunge-pool patio. basilica, remains of private
houses (some with mosaics),
⌂ Pýrgos village, north-
flanking road the agora, or marketplace, and
∑ voreinasuites.gr a theatre with a view down to
the sea. On the far west is a
¡¡¡
3rd-century-BC sanctuary cut
into the rock. It features relief Did You Know?
Afroessa carvings of an eagle, a lion,
This small boutique a dolphin and a phallus Néa Kaméni was
hotel offers panoramic symbolizing the gods Zeus, formed over
views, a bar-side pool, Apollo, Poseidon and Priapus. thousands of years
helpful staff and a To the east, on the Terrace from erupted
restaurant with an of Celebrations, is graffiti that lava and ash.
affordable snack menu. dates back as far as 750 BC.
⌂ Imerovígli, 2 km The messages praise the com-
(1 mile) from Firá petitors and dancers of the
∑ afroessa.com gymnopediés – festivals where site, Kamári beach is situated
boys danced naked and sang to the north and is the island’s
¡¡¡
hymns to Apollo, or competed main resort. The beach, a mix
in feats of physical strength. of stone and black volcanic
The main access point for the sand, is backed by tavernas
and apartments.
5
Akrotíri
⌂ 12 km (7 miles) SW of Firá
# 10am–5pm daily
Akrotíri was once a Minoan
outpost on the south west tip
of the island and is one of the
most inspiring archaeological
sites in the Cyclades. After
A visitor reading about an eruption in 1866, French
the well-preserved archaeologists discovered
ruins of Ancient Thera Minoan pots at Akrotíri, though
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