Santorini in the Greek State
Santorini became independent from Ottoman rule in 1821,
during the Greek War of Independence and was united with
Greece in 1830 under the Treaty of London. In 1956 a
major earthquake and a volcanic eruption resulted in the
demolishing of many buildings on the island, leading to
the desertion of many of its villages. Nowadays due to
the expansion of tourism, the island has gained great
wealth and population. Its major settlements include
Fira Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Perissa, Imerovigli, Pyrgos,
and Therasia. Akrotiri is a major archaeological site,
with ruins from the Minoan era. Santorini's primary
industry is tourism, particularly in the summer months.
The island's pumice quarries have been closed since
1986, in order to preserve the caldera.
Aridity
Santorini has no rivers, and water is scarce. Until the
early 1990s locals filled water cisterns from the rain
that fell on roofs and courts, from small springs, and
with imported assistance from other areas of Greece. In
recent years a desalination plant has provided running,
yet non-potable, water to most houses. Since rain is
rare on the island from mid-spring till mid-autumn, many
plants depend on the scant moisture provided by the
common, early morning fog condensing on the ground as
dew.
Wine
industry
The
island remains the home of a small, but flourishing,
wine industry, based on the indigenous grape variety,
Assyrtiko, with auxiliary cultivations of two other
Aegean varietals, Athiri and Aidani. The
vines are extremely old and resistant to phylloxera
(attributed by local winemakers to the well-drained
volcanic soil and its chemistry), so the vines needed no
replacement during the great phylloxera epidemic of the
early 20th century. In their adaptation to their
habitat, such vines are planted far apart, as their
principal source of moisture is dew, and they often are
trained in the shape of low-spiralling baskets, with the
grapes hanging inside to protect them from the winds.
The
viticultural pride of the island is the sweet and strong
Vinsanto (Italian:
"holy wine"), a dessert wine made from the
best sun-dried Assyrtiko, Athiri, and
Aidani grapes and undergoing long barrel aging (up
to twenty or twenty-five years for the top cuv�es).
It matures to a sweet, dark amber-orange, unctuous
dessert wine that has achieved worldwide fame,
possessing the standard Assyrtiko aromas of citrus and
minerals, layered with overtones of nuts, raisins, figs,
honey and tea.
White
wines from the island are extremely dry with a strong,
citrus scent and mineral and iodide salt aromas
contributed by the ashy volcanic soil, whereas barrel
aging gives to some of the white wines a slight
frankincense aroma, much like Vinsanto. It is not easy
to be a winegrower in Santorini; the hot and dry
conditions give the soil a very low productivity. The
yield per acre is only 10 to 20% of the yields that are
common in France or California. The island's wines are
standardised and protected by the "Vinsanto" and
"Santorini" OPAP designations of origin.
Agriculture
Due to
its unique ecology and climate, and especially its
volcanic ash soil, Santorini is home to unique and
prized produce. The Santorini tomatoes are renowned;
they are cherry tomatoes that are extremely flavorful
and sweet, and with an intensely red, staining color.
Santorini "fava" (a pur�e made of the hulled, then
sun-dried, then boiled legume Lathyrus sativus - not
from the yellow split pea as in the rest of Greece) is
considered the best in the world. The white eggplants of
Santorini are very sweet, with very few seeds, and can
be eaten raw, as though they were fruit. The katso�ni
is a unique local variety of large cucumbers which, if
left unpicked when green, turn yellow and acquire a
sweet taste almost indistinguishable from that of melon.
Recent
volcanism
In 1707
an undersea volcano breached the sea surface, forming
the current centre of activity at Nea Kameni in the
centre of the lagoon, and eruptions centred on it
continue � the twentieth century saw three such, the
last in 1950. Santorini was also struck by a devastating
earthquake in 1956. Although the volcano is quiescent at
the present time, at the current active crater (there
are several former craters on Nea Kameni), steam and
sulphur dioxide are given off.
Architecture
The
traditional architecture of Santorini is similar to that
of the other Cyclades, with low-lying cubical houses,
made of local stone and whitewashed or lime washed with
various volcanic ashes used as colors. The unique
characteristic is the common utilization of the
hyp�skapha: extensions of houses dug sideways or
downwards into the surrounding pumice. These rooms are
prized because of the high insulation provided by the
air-filled pumice, and are used as living quarters of
unique coolness in the summer and warmth in the winter,
and also as premium storage space for produce and
especially for wine cellaring: the K�nava
wineries of Santorini. |
