Santorini has 13 villages. Each one has its own character, while all together create the unique Santorini atmosphere. Fira, the island’s capital, full of motion and night life, Pyrgos, with its castle, Ia, well known for its traditional architecture and sunsets, all are waiting for you to visit them.
Akrotiri
A village buit on the most irrelevant part of the island about 12 km from Fira to the southwest. The excavations in that area brought up the city of Acropolis, a fortified Venetian castle during the medievals years which after the occupation Santorini by the Turks was torn down. The remains of the castle are easily visible. There are two old churches in the village, Aghia Triada and Ipapandi tou Sotiros.
Emporio
A large village built on the center of the plain with small picturesque streets tha add to the village’s beauty. Emporio also had a fortified castle during the medievals years, vestiges of which are still visible. North of the villages there is a strong, square building named “Goulas”, in which the village people protected themselves from the pirates.
Episkopi Gonias
A Byzantine style church dedicated to the Assunption ot the Virgin Mary, was built in the end of the 11th century with all expenses paid by the byzantine emperor Alexios Komninos. It is located about six kilometers from Fira near Kamari.
Karterados
Only two kilometers from Fira, with an interesting architecture and the church of Analipsis worth visiting.
Megalochori
A village about nine kilometers from Fira. The churches of Aghia Anargyri, Isodia tis Theotokou and Aghios Nikolaos Marmaritis on the road to Emborio are worth seeing. Aghios Nikolaos Marmaritis took the name Marmaritis because it is all made by “Marmaro”, that meens marble. The church kept its Doric style of the fourth century intouched after it was converted to a cristian one.
Messa Gonia
The village suffered greatly during the 1956 earthquake and many of its residents abandoned it to settle in the village of Kamari. However the village has made a comeback of late and is worth visiting for its traditional architecture. Nearby is the village of Exo Gonia from were one can visit the famous church of Panayia Episkopi.
Monolithos
A typical village about seven kilometers from Fira and near the airport. It has an organized beach.
Pyrgos
The village has some fine old houses, the remains of a Venetian castle on the hilltop and several byzantine churches, the most notable is the Theotokaki, with some interesting frescoes. the Monastery of Profitis Ilias is three kilimeters from the village. It is located on the peak of the mountain with the same name, altitude of 550 meters. The monks, Joachim and Gabriel, were the ones to start the construction of the monastery in 1771, with the help of the bishop of Fira, Zacharias, and the aproval of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril. After the Patriarch’s spiritual protection the monastery was named a “Patriarchical Monastery”. Around the 19th century the monastery was expanded from its original form, when the King of Greece, Othon, charmed by the landscape, ordered its expansion. The monastery’s museum is full of ecclesiastical articles of unlimited value. Also, there are icons from 15th and 18th centuries, a 20th century iron cross, silverbound scriptures, and the diamond-adorned mitre of the Patriarch Gregory E’.
Vothonas
The village has a small church built inside a cave worth seeing. Othe villages on the island worth visiting for their landscape are Kodochori, Firostefani and Vourvoulos.
