Lost City of AtlantisThe lost city of Atlantis.The Island of Santorini was once known to Ancient Greece as Thera. Santorini is an extinct enormous volcanic crater. In approximately 1620bc, it was the epicentre of the worst volcanic eruption, not just of prehistory but of all time. The Theran eruption is estimated by leading scholars to have been about 10 times bigger than Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii, and Herculaneum, and it was 120 times bigger than the Mount St Helens eruption in the eighties. The destruction and death toll by the effects of ash clouds and tsunami on all the surrounding lands will have been on a legendary scale. The Theran people who were living around 3,500 years ago were an incredibly cultured civilisation, to rival any Bronze Age race. Currently in Akrotiri archaeologists are uncovering amazingly sophisticated buried city of pottery and wall decorations, which show a stark contrast with other images of that era. Women are clearly highly valued and respected in ancient Theran images, in direct comparison to the culture of 1000 years later in nearby Athens. The strategic positioning of the Island, between Europe, Africa and Asia meant that the oceanic trade routes all staged through this central market place of an island. This cosmopolitan world had merchants from so many seafaring routes that there were dozens of languages regularly spoken in the harbours and market places. Thera's close proximity to Crete meant that the two cultures were strongly interwoven. Nowadays the Bronze Age people of Crete are known as the Minoans, named after the legend of King Minos who was half man half bull.
PLATO'S LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS The Island of Atlantis first entered the literary consciousness when Plato, one of the greatest Athenians, wrote: There were circular belts of sea and land enclosing one another; some greater, some smaller. ...In the sacred precinct of Poseidon there were bulls roaming at large... The seaway and harbour were filled with ships and merchants coming from all quarters. They were of all men, most renowned, and the wealth they possessed was so immense that the like had never been seen before. But at length they lost their comeliness and there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods and in one grievous day and night fell them and the island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea and vanished. Plato, who had been taught by Socrates, and later schooled other Athenian scholars, will have been ideally placed, to have heard the very real stories of Thera before and during its disaster, which despite being about a thousand years before Plato; approximately 1620bc will still have been in many stories told to all Greeks of that time. The descriptions used by Plato of his Atlantean Island (lost city of Atlantis) topography, culture, entertainment and eventual devastation are unmistakably recognizable in Santorini's past.
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Argosaronic Gulf Islands
The islands of the Argosaronic are like priceless gems decorating this gulf with lavish beauty. The inhabitants of Athens and Piraeus, who can escape the tumult of the city in very little time, are very fortunate.
The nearest of them, the historic Salamina, is also the most densely populated. From Peroma in Attica, you can get to Paloukia opposite in 15 minutes and from there go wherever you want on the island by car or scooter.
Further south, is the gorgeous Aegina with its pine trees, sandy beaches and the famous temple of Aphaia all of which are only one hour by boat from Piraeus. It is also, densely populated, but less so than Salamina.
Even further south, is the alluring and divine Poros, opposite the Peloponnese, and beyond that the celebrated Hydra with its fabulous traditional architecture. The entrance to the Gulf of Argolis is Spetses, picturesque and verdant. Possessing a great naval tradition, it, like Hydra, played an important role with its fleet and its worthy sailors when the Greek nation rose up in arms against the Turks.
Spetses, the most distant of the islands, is only four hours from Piraeus. However, if you make the journey on the speedy hydrofoils ('Flying Dolphin's), which have schedules to all the islands (except Salamina) it will take only half as long. Not to mention that in the summer the trip may be extended beyond Spetsys to Monemvasia Kythera and Nfplio the capital of Argolid.
Besides these four main islands there are also small islands, which number more than 100, when you count the rocky islets. We describe a total of 88, only 11 of which are inhabited. A visit to the uninhabited ones, on your own boat, can hold surprises in store.
So the islands of the Saronic and the Argolis Gulf, make for memorable excursions, be they just a day or several days.
Cyclades Islands
The Cyclades, are Greek islands to dream about; sun-kissed outliers of rock and dappled earth lying scattered across the glittering Aegean Sea.
Their characteristic white Cubist houses, golden beaches, olive groves, pine forests, herb-strewn mountain slopes and terraced valleys make for an irresistible mix.
Throw in a dash of hedonism, and a culture that draws vividly on ancient and modern themes, and the Greek island dream can become reality.
Other realities can be a touch more down-to-earth, at least for native islanders, who have often struggled for a living through centuries of deprivation. Beneath the tourism gloss, many raise livestock and grow food on reluctant soil, or chase a diminishing supply of fish from the sea which are regularly rough and dangerous. Winters are often grey, bleak and unforgiving.
The Cyclades range from big fertile Naxos, with its craggy mountains, and landlocked valleys, through the tiny outliers of Donousa, Iraklia and a Anafi, where the sea dominates, with attitude, on every side.
The beaches of Mykonos, Santorini and Ios half and wash with sun-lounger society and raucous diversions; their main towns seethe with commercialism. All of this has its appeal, the other islands, such as Andros,Amorgos and Sifnos, have kept tourism to a more sedate scale.
The Cyclades all so named because they form a circle around the island of Delos, one of the world's most haunting ancient sites. Closing that circle is still one of the most rewarding experiences for the dedicated traveller.
This is the most picturesque island complex in Greece, lying right in the middle of the Aegean Sea.
The Cycladic Archipelago, which seems to be an extension of Euboea and Attica to the south-east, consists of around 2200 islands, islets and various rocky outcroppings.
I describe, or simply fix the location of, 148 of them, which are, in my opinion the most important. Only 33 of those are inhabited.
All of these together form an imaginary circle around the Sacred Delos, the island which, according to mythology, appeared from and the waves to become the land of Apollo. And really where could a place, with more sunlight than the Cyclades have been found for the god of light.
Dodecanese Islands
Strung out along the coast of western Turkey, like jewels upon and impossibly aquamarine sea, the Dodecanese both entrance and attract passers-by - many of whom return year after year to sample some of the most culturally and geographically diverse islands in the Aegean.
These 18 islands, including satellites, are an entity unto themselves. Under Italian rule until 1947, they maintain an air of slight separateness and, unsurprisingly, still attract large numbers of curious Italian visitors.
The islands are a beguiling mix of sea, mountain and meadow and, because they are all close to one another, can easily be 'hopped'. They need that extra effort to get to, but the rewards far outweigh the investment.
The spiritually inclined will make a beeline for Patmos. The developed resorts of Rhodes and Kos have beaches and bars galore, while Lipsi and Tilos have seductive beaches, minus the crowds.
The far-flung islands of Agathonisi, Arki and Kastellorizo await Greek island aficionados in pursuit of traditional island life, while everyone gapes at the extraordinary volcanic landscape that geological turbulence has created on Nisyros.
The islands' checkered history, has also endowed them with a wealth of diverse archaeological remains.