DISCOVER
ATLANTIS
Atlantis, the fabled island continent lost beneath the waves vast millenia
ago, is believed by many scholars to have existed not in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Aegean Sea. It was described by Plato
as a peaceful land, advanced in knowledge and rich in commerce. But
when the people of Atlantis became complacent and arrogant, the gods destroyed
them in a cataclysmic event that submerged the island and all its people
in a single day and night.
ADVANCED
CIVILIZATION
Atlantis was part of the Minoan culture, a peaceful civilization spread
across Crete and throughout the nearby islands. Santorini, also known
as Thera, was a Minoan land, and ruins can be found throughout the island.
At its center lay a volcano which began erupting about 1500 BC, coming
to an earth-shattering conclusion about 1470 BC. Geologically similar
to Krakotoa, the volcano on Santorini was about four times larger in diameter
and probably more violent. The fury of its final explosion is inferred
from geologic core samples, from comparison to the detailed observations
made on Krakotoa in 1883, and from the simultaneous obliteration of almost
all Minoan settlements.
TOTAL
DESTRUCTION
In the summer of 1470 BC volcanic ash filled the sky, blotted out the sun,
triggered hail and lightening, and rained down upon the Aegean. Earthquakes
shook the land and stone structures fell. When the enormous magma
chamber at Santorini finally collapsed to form the existing caldera, enormous
tsunamis spread outward in all directions. The coastal villages of
Crete and surrounding islands were flooded and destroyed. The only
major Minoan structure surviving was the palace at Knossos.
RUINS
AND TREASURES
The island of Santorini is now the rim of the volcano; the caldera is covered
by the Aegean. Inhabitants of Santorini mine the volcanic ash to
make cement and still find ancient ruins under the stone. The ash is now
the soil; olive and fruit trees cover the land, and former Atlantis is
buried beneath the soil and beneath the sea. Crete, too, has been
rebuilt, but the ruins and treasures of ancient Atlantis are still there
to be discovered.