Experiencing the Santorini Volcano Reenactment
Becoming an accidental tourist at a timely event — complete with fireworks
The Santorini volcano is restless.
So says Volcano Discovery, a website that monitors volcanos around the world. The site has been reporting a “swarm” of seismic activity in the region for the past few weeks.
On February 12, in one 24-hour period, there were 29 earthquakes reaching magnitudes between 4 and 5, two that slid above 5 on the scale, and hundreds of smaller quakes. In another seven-day period, the Santorini volcano experienced 304 quakes, including two of magnitudes up to 3.5.
To date, the quakes haven’t reached 5.5, where damage to buildings is likely to occur. But it’s been enough to cause schools to be closed for several days and send tourists running from the area, according to news reports. This month, tourists have begun to return as government officials set up safety measures to prevent rockfalls and repair hill-slope fencing.
This seismic activity stretches back to last June, when I was still trying to convince a writer-friend that we should travel to Santorini instead of one of Greece’s 6000 other islands. I’ve wanted to see this iconic Greek island for over twenty years.
I first heard of it in January 2000, as a student at the University of Regina. I had the chance to interview Maureen Hunter for my Master’s thesis. I can still see scenes from her intense play Atlantis, set on Santorini, in the university stage production that month. Later, in 2008, another friend visited Santorini and described her near-religious experience in a church there.
But it took until September 2024 for me to travel to Santorini. I had signed up for a writing retreat on Amorgos Island, as had my writer-friend. We planned to share expenses so we could snag a few extra days in Athens and visit at least one other Greek island while we were there. She’d researched several likely possibilities, but I stubbornly clung to my dream of Santorini. When she came up with her own reasons for wanting to see it, we booked a hotel room. And I was on the way to seeing a dream come true.
My Santorini experience
As it turned out, my Santorini experience didn’t involve churches or mystical awakenings. The first evening, we almost literally stumbled upon an unexpected (and timely) event. We had decided (due partly to post-retreat exhaustion and partly to my friend’s bout of severe sea-sickness on the ferry from Amorgos) to do our sightseeing in Firostefani, one km north of Fira, Santorini’s capital. The concierge of our Hotel Afrodete (highly recommended!) mentioned a fireworks reenactment event, Volcanoes 2024, occurring that night after dark, so we ventured out in search of it.
Following a sloping, cobbled road in search of the sea, we stepped into a vibrant night scene full of the chatter of excited voices and lively Greek music from the nearby bars and restaurants. Surrounded by what felt like a wall of people, we took the stone stairs down to a terrace and found a perch on a low stone wall, wide enough to sit on, beside a couple of other women.
Some 400 meters below us, lights bobbed in the dark Aegean sea, as boats moved in and out of formation. We sat on the cliff of the caldera, a depression made during the eruption of the super-volcano eons ago that had forged the island. The event we were about to see would commemorate the various volcano eruptions throughout the ages, beginning about 1600 BCE.
That was thought to be the worst volcanic eruption of the last 10,000 years, destroying the islands within 50-60 km. Although there’s evidence that the people were evacuated and no lives were lost, the eruption and resulting tsunamis may have contributed to the decline of the Minoan civilization. New evidence suggests there may have been worse eruptions in the past, and the recent seismic activity has initiated numerous articles and news stories about the volcanic history of the area.
Back to September 21, 2024
As we waited, a chilly wind blew off the sea, and I was glad to be wearing a sweater and jacket over my light summer clothing. Finally, a red dot appeared on the horizon. We watched, breathless. But… That’s all that happened for so long that I began to wonder if the Greek version of fireworks would turn out to be a disappointment.
The dot eventually turned into a cluster. And all at once, the scene intensified.
For the next 22 minutes, fireworks boomed around us, sometimes far across the sea, sometimes on the nearer island, and sometimes so close we had to duck back to the stone wall for shelter. At one point a wedding couple even set off a mini fireworks display behind us. But across the Aegean, the lights and smoke signified the major disaster, drifting across the islands in a demonstration of the breadth of it.
What we discovered in a day
The following day, we found a magazine in our room that told more of the island’s story, in Greek and English side-by-side. For example, an eruption almost destroyed the island in January 1950. At the time, tourism had been virtually unknown. Santorini was an island of fishermen, sailors and dockworkers, and farmers growing crops like grapes, tomatoes, and wheat. The devastation must have been incredible.
Another disaster struck in the form of a major 7.5-magnitude earthquake in 1956, levelling Fira and Oia and affecting other neighbouring islands as well. Reconstruction efforts after these disasters transformed the island into the popular tourist destination it is today.
That day, we had lunch in the Galini Cafe, one of Firostefani’s trendy restaurants, along the street where we had watched the fireworks the previous night. I went for my favourite poached eggs on salmon with a proper cup of coffee-with-milk, and my friend was able to get a dairy-and-gluten-free omelette with fresh-squeezed orange juice.
We spent the day milling about the kitschy shops and explored the various terraced streets in Firostefani. Luckily, my friend was able to navigate better through those streets than me, because I felt perpetually lost. Eventually, she led us to the Atlantis book store, and it was definitely worth a look.
An unusual bookstore
The winding maze led to rooms full of books, many classics or older books that I didn’t think people bought anymore, and a black-and-white photo display I enjoyed. On one ledge I found a Leonard Cohen book on the shelf, and felt that little surge that I’m sure all Canadians feel when we spot a little bit of home in an unexpected place.
I finally purchased a map that promised “words of wisdom gleaned from decades of occasionally wayward exploration” (perfect for me, right?)
Savouring tastes of Santorini
After I returned home to Canada, I discovered something in the notes I’d copied from that article we found in our hotel that will help me recreate the experience: “the beloved summer Sfougato.” Sfougato is a baked egg dish similar to frittata, veggie omelettes, or quiche without the crust — all of which sounds good for my gluten-free needs. The basic ingredients are eggs, feta cheese, milk, sliced or grated zucchini sautéd with garlic and diced green onions, and herbs like dill, oregano, and cloves.
There are numerous recipes to follow on the Internet, including one from the Downton Abbey Cooks: https://downtonabbeycooks.com/easy-greek-sfougato/. Or check out this special recipe from Elizabeth at Bowl of Delicious with additional tips – like not adding garlic, drying out the zucchini by grating it and pressing out the extra liquid, or substituting yellow squash for zucchini: https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/sfougato/
If you’d like to watch my entire 22-minute video of the recreation event, please check out my Youtube channel. This Volcano Event is also scheduled to take place in September for the next three years. Or you could see the area virtually through the Santorini.net webcam. And to see a recreation of the Minoan period with the Santorini volcano in the background, check out our Travel and Culture article from February 25:
Recreating an ancient village in Crete
Out on the wine-dark waters of the Aegean Sea, the epic poet Homer tells us, lies a wondrous destination.
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What a beautiful experience, and it takes on more meaning now with the volcano getting active!
Well done! Despite the motion sickness, I'm glad we went. It turned out wonderfully.