IMEROVIGLI SANTORINI

Imerovigli

In Imerovigli, like throughout Santorini, there are many churches and chapels. The chapel of Theoskepasti is one of the most interesting, it is built on the edge of a cliff in front of the rock of Skaros. Another interesting church is the one of St Mary of Malta which was named according to the tradition from an icon that was found in the sea near Malta, on a trip from Santorini to Malta for transport of wine. The captain of the ship, spurred by dreams of the Virgin Mary, picked up the image from the sea and brought it to Imerovigli where he built the church. The wooden temple has scenes from the Old Testament. The original church was build in the 19th century, but was destroyed by the earthquake of 1956 and at the site a new temple was built.

Skaros the famous fortress was the capital of Santorini until the 18th century. The old fortress of Skaros was built in the late Byzantine period by the Venetians which came to Santorini the 13th century AD. Around and below the upper castle it was built the whole village.
The Skaros castle is one of the five castles of Santorini and it was made mainly from stone. The Skaros castle had at its entrance a movable wooden bridge of which some ruins still exist today. The abandonment of the Skaros village from its inhabitants began in the early 17th century. Suffered serious damage from the eruption of the volcano in 1650 and later by the earthquake of 1817, therefore now survive only a few ruins. In addition, residents that abandoned the village, removed the materials to use to build their new homes in other parts of the island.

The last volcanic activity was in 1950 and future eruptions are secure. The volcanoes of Santorini are: Nea Kameni (1707-1711 AD), the Palea Kameni (46-47 AD), the underwater volcano Columbia (1650 AD), the Christiana Islands. Santorini belongs to the Aegean volcanic arc and is characterized as an active volcano with Methana, Milos and Nisyros.