The Caldera of Santorini Inches overhead, a blue that burns, That all but blackens--heaven as a flue?-- Against this white that all but calcifies. Behind, a breakneck mile of hairpin turns, The Golden Climb--mule dung and reek, whips, flies-- Lurches and jolts. Each moment someone new Arrives at this despaired-of-from-below Village unmelted on the crest like snow. A gentler view, south from my balcony: Past cubes and domes the baked vine terraces Descend to beaches' black volcanic sand And pewter glare of the September sea. from "Santorini: Stopping the Leak" by James Merrill

The Caldera of Santorini is truly one of the wonders of the world. It was formed approximately 3,500 years ago by a massive volcanic eruption that changed all of Mediterranean culture and may have led to the myth of Atlantis. It is a crater miles across, lined by cliffs reaching heights of more than a thousand feet above sea-level. Those cliffs continue down below the water another thousand feet, making the Caldera an ideal harbor.

On the northern edge of the Caldera, at the northern tip of the island, is the town of Oia. It is a town of restaurants, bars, and hotels built into the cliffs, which are lower at the ends of the island. Oia is reached from the rest of the island by a single road that travels along the back side of the cliff on the eastern edge of the island. In spots, this road is nothing more than a two-lane shelf along the cliff with no guard rail or shoulder. A passenger looking out their window on the ride out to Oia will see nothing but a several hundred foot drop.

Fira (or Thera) is the main town on the island (and another name for the island itself). It is one eastern side of the Caldera, atop the highest cliffs. Parts of it are perched more than 1,200 feet above the water. Like Oia, Fira is mostly hotels, restaurants, and bars. The island's main port is located at the base of the cliff below Fira. People arriving at the port can get up to Fira by walking or riding a donkey up a mile-long path that meanders along the edge of the cliff, or they can take a more recently-built cable car.

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Greece 1996

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