Santorini Gallery

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Santorini

We ferried once again from Milos to Santorini

Ancient Thera - Sanctuary of Artemidoros

The sanctuary was founded in the 3rd century BC by Artemidoros who carved the outdoor sanctuary out of stone himself. Epigrams and inscriptions honoring their gods and Artemidoros have been etched on rocks around the sanctuary. Artemidoros was from Perga in Pamphylia. A dream led him to settle in Thera in his old age. Here he was active founding temples and adorning the city. He was honored for this contribution with an olive branch wreath and the right to citizenship in Thera. Artemidoros was an official in the army of Ptolemy III. The eagle was a symbol of the Ptolomies. The eagle is also a symbol of Zeus.

Ancient Thera - Agora

The Agora, meaning both forum and marketplace, was a place for the meeting and assembly of the city's citizens, and also a place for their commercial transactions. The Agora is located in the center of the city and consists of three consecutive flat, open spaces along the main road that passes through the city. Around the marketplace were important buildings like the Royal Stoa, the Temple of Dionysos, and the Exedres.

Ancient Thera - Exedra - Movie

Immediately after the Sanctuary of Artemidoros are three temple-like buildings of the Roman period (1st - 2nd century AD). Built in a row, they housed statues of individuals from prominent families of Thera who were honored by the city. On a raised platform of three or four tiers, they held pedestals for the statues. The inscribed bases of some of the statues survive today.

Ancient Thera - Agora and Roman Baths - Movie

Public building with an arcade on its front side which was built during the Hellenistic period but underwent significant changes during the Roman period. The baths were constructed in the middle of the 2nd century AD and are considered public since they were located within the Agora. Of the areas usually found in baths and changing rooms, such as rooms for cold baths, sweating and massage, and hot baths, only the last has been identified with certainty.

Ancient Thera - Sanctuary of Egyptian Gods - Movie

In the Hellenistic period, a time of great openness to new gods and sects, the cults of eastern Egyptian deities had begun to spread through Greece. In Thera, the Egyptian gods Serapis, Isis, and Anubis had begun to be worshiped by the 3rd century BC. The sanctuary was an unusual outdoor construction, a terrace made by filling in the area between natural rocky sides with soil. Two tanks next to the sanctuary provided the necessary holy water for religious needs. At that time, Thera belonged to the Ptolemies, who were also the rulers of the Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt.