The Minoan eruption was a catastrophic volcanic eruption that devastated the Aegean island of Thera circa 1600 BC. It destroyed the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultur
Volcanic craters on Santorini, June 2001
Early phase of Late-Bronze-Age volcano eruption (~ 1500 BC), southern border of the Caldera island. The lower layer of pumice is finer, almost white and without rock intrusions.
Mansions and hotels atop steep cliffs.
Excavation of Akrotiri on Thera
Atlantis is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works Timaeus and Critias as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. By describing Atlantis as a naval empire from the west that had conquered
Minoan eruption
…descriptions. Spyridon Marinatos, the discoverer of the Akrotiri archaeological site, suggested that the Minoan eruption is reflected in Plato's story of Atlantis. This view remains prevalent in popular culture, as reflected in TV programs such as BBC's Atlantis. However, this view is not supported by current…
A fifteenth-century Latin translation of Plato's Timaeus
The Santorini caldera on 24 June 2022, taken from the International Space Station. From the Minoan eruption event, and the 1964 discovery of Akrotiri on the island, this location is one of many sites purported to have been the location of Atlantis.
The mid-atlantic ridge in the Atlantic
A Faroe Islands postage stamp honoring Janus Djurhuus's poem "Atlantis"