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Santorini, by the locals

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© E. Tresmontant / ViaMichelin

© E. Tresmontant / ViaMichelin

People first and foremost

If we have learnt a lesson from all of our jaunts in Europe over the last few years, it is that the key to accessing what is most authentic about a region, town or country is obtained from those who live there. On Santorini, we were lucky enough to meet some exceptional characters with boundless affection for their island. Pâris Sigalas and Harydimos Hatzidakis, who are among the top ten Greek winegrowers (see gastronomy article Santorini, a volcano of flavours!), took us to the area around their vineyards, to secret places far from the crowds. Petros Ikonamou, specialist of the Santorini tomato, drove us by 4x4 to absolutely sublime "prehistoric" landscapes, not far from the archaeological site of Akrotíri, in the south of the island. Halaris Vagelis, a fisherman from Monolithos, took us out in his boat in the evening to show us how they throw several kilometres of nets into the sea to catch red mullet, swordfish and shark. Lastly, the delightful Christa Braziotis, whose rooms hollowed out of the cliff at Oía overlook the sea, showed us what real Greek hospitality is all about!

 

An island unlike any other

Compared with the 40 other islands of the Cyclades archipelago (which, as the name suggests, form a circle at the centre of the Aegean) Santorini is the island closest to Crete. This site, one of the most spectacular of the Mediterranean, is ideally discovered by boat coming from Piraeus or Heraklion: what an impression when, entering its roadstead with unfathomable depths (over 400 m/1,312 ft - it is impossible to anchor there), you catch sight of the immense 300 m-high (984 ft) volcanic cliff down which zigzags a stairway with 587 steps! You are now facing Firá, the capital of the island. "The daughter of supreme wrath" in the words of poet Odysseus Elytis, Santorini has always created a certain fear. The volcano violently awoke around 1530 BC, covering the entire island with vast quantities of pumice stone and ash 30 or 40 metres thick. The island, which was circular at the time (hence its first name of Strongyle, "the round one"), saw its central part collapse and the sea engulf the crater. Thus disappeared a brilliant civilisation, very similar to that of Crete and of which only a few vestiges remain. This cataclysm was also responsible for the current shape of the island, a semi-circle whose ochre and grey cliffs, situated on the west side, are the remains of the old crater. Santorini still quakes from time to time, as in 1867, 1925 and, more recently, 1956!

© E. Tresmontant / ViaMichelin

Oía, or beauty as therapy!

As soon as you arrive at Firá airport, take a taxi to Oía (20 minutes), located 10 km (6 miles) from the capital on the northern tip of the island. Despite the postcard sellers, this village - renowned as being the most expensive in the whole of Greece - has retained all its cachet. The electric wires are underground here and the difficult access has fortunately dissuaded property developers from creating huge building sites! Laid out along the crest of the cliff over 300 metres (984 ft) above the sea, its main pedestrian street, paved with marble, here and there passes the ruins of houses destroyed by the earthquake of 1956 (Oía was at that time the biggest village on Santorini). But the most impressive thing is the way in which the village, with its numerous white churches topped with blue domes, has taken over the slopes of the old crater dropping steeply to the sea. Numerous flights of steps and terraces link up houses built directly into the rock.

© E. Tresmontant / ViaMichelin

It is here that we met Christa Braziotis who, from April to October, rents out a handful of traditional-style rooms. Her terrace offers one of the finest panoramas of the sea, the remains of the volcano and the entire west coast. Morning and evening, the beauty of the scene is staggering: it does you good to just sit down and look! Christa, who is campaigning for the protection of Santorini, showed us a marvellous little-used footpath, that links Oía to Firá in 3 or 4 hours: so leave in the morning, before it gets really hot, with a flask, a hat and a few figs. Alone, you will notice by the side of the path pieces of solidified lava, covered with wild caper bushes. The wind, a deserted church, the scents of the sea and wild sage. Walk in peace, re-reading Homer! (Return to Oía by bus in the afternoon).

© E. Tresmontant / ViaMichelin

Pírgos

30 minutes from Oía by car, the fortified mediaeval village of Pírgos is the highest on Santorini. Heading up its concentric streets, you will reach a pretty, tree-filled square surrounded by a church, a museum of Byzantine art and a recent Relais et Châteaux hotel. Peasants on donkeys come here to sell their tomatoes, fava beans, honey and wine.

 

The view over the white roofs of the village is superb. Pírgos is also the village of the great winegrower Harydimos Hatzidakis, who is the only one on the island to produce organic wines (see article).

 

In September, after the grape harvest, you can admire his vines with bunches of Assyrtiko (the island's traditional grape variety) drying in the sun at their feet; their very sweet juice produces the famous Vinsanto. Above the Hatzidakis estate,4 km (2.5 miles) southeast of Pírgos, is the Profítis Iías monastery, founded in 1711 on the island's highest point (566 m/1,857 ft). Renowned for its garden, library and museum of religious art, this monastery is, however, open to the public for only a few hours a week (see practical information). 

Santorini: what you need to know

People generally spend two or three days in Santorini before going back to Athens, which underwent a facelift for the 2004 Olympic Games (link to article). When organising your stay (avoid the very hot and busy months of July and August), you should take two important things into consideration. First, it is not easy to get around the island, the distances being quite long and the winding roads exposed to scorching hot sun! Buses do, of course, link the capital to the other villages, but not all sites are served. Hiring a car on arrival is therefore the best solution, unless you prefer a scooter or quad bike, which has just made its entrance on the island. Beware of sunburn, ravines and the driving - not always careful - of the natives! Secondly, some of the island's scenery - particularly around Firá airport - has been disfigured by wild concrete constructions. The capital itself, despite its magnificent bird's-eye views of the roadstead, is inundated with tourists and sellers of all kinds of objects in summer. Here, as elsewhere, mass tourism is wreaking havoc, so you may as well be selective and take two days to see only the quintessence of the island!

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Perivolos beach and the surrounding area

On the southeast coast of Santorini, the black sand beach of Perivolos is the meeting place for the bright young things from Athens. They come here at the weekend, between planes, to hire a deckchair and parasol, like in Cannes. The young women wear their gold jewellery by Ilias Lalaounis (the capital's famous jeweller) and the men never take off their Armani sunglasses. All rather trivial, but the beach is beautiful and you can also sample the very fine fresh fish of the taverna (which means "the nets") facing the sea.

 

When you leave Perivolos beach, be sure to visit the other mediaeval village, Emborió. This half deserted village is like a sort of Russian doll, each fortification containing another fortress, as if there were several villages in one! The houses here are tiny and you can only enter the walls on foot. A timeless place!

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"Jurassic Park" on Santorini

Set on the south coast of Santorini, the Minoan town of Akrotíri was buried beneath ash from the volcanic eruption of 1530 BC. When we visited, the site was unfortunately closed to the public. Nevertheless, it is interesting to know that until it was discovered in 1967 by the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, the town was miraculously preserved by a thick layer of impermeable pumice stone. So today, one can still admire its streets, its houses with upper floors, and its large vases in which food was stored.

To console us, Petros Ikonamou (who is one of the island's most emblematic figures) showed us an extraordinary natural beauty spot to the east of Akrotíri. Here lava stalagmites rise up among the dunes, and sandy tracks - that our 4x4 tackled with glee - wind between caves and chasms, cacti and juniper. This forgotten landscape has been totally spared by tourism. From this place you can reach beautiful deserted beaches facing Crete, which can be seen in the distance.