Even for a country with a past as rich and storied as Greece’s, the ancient city of Akrotiri stands out amongst its historical sites.
The ruins of the Bronze Age metropolis sit on the volcanic island of Santorini, in the southern Aegean Sea, some 120 miles southeast of the mainland. Excavations began in earnest on the island in 1967, and on Aug. 19, 1969, the city was uncovered in its entirety—frozen in time, as Pompeii would be thousands of years later, by a thick coating of pumice and ash.
That pumice and ash came from a giant eruption that archaeologists think happened sometime in the 16th century B.C. While there’s no exact date for it, we know it was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history—devastating many settlements of the Minoan civilization, including Akrotiri.
The volcanic blanketing of the city has preserved it in remarkable detail. Frescoes, figurines, pottery, furniture, and other artifacts have all been recovered from the site. What hasn’t been found are any skeletons, a distinct difference from Pompeii, suggesting that residents got advance warning of the volcanic eruption—perhaps through earthquakes and tremors—and escaped just in time.
Here’s what Akrotiri looks like today, as well as what it reveals about the Minoan people and their way of life.
Read more: “The Volcano That Shrouded the Earth and Gave Birth to a Monster”
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Lead image: Marsyas / Wikimedia
