Santorini

Santorini was possibly inhabited as early as 3000 BC. On the south coast a city prospered from about 2000 BC until the onset of the great Minoan Eruption (1600 BC). Apparently precursory earthquakes or volcanic activity was enough warning for the population in order to timely leave the endangered island.

Pumice all but covered the ancient city of Akrotiri, which has recently been excavated. Several metres of pumice had to be remove. Like in Italy's Pompeii, the tephra has protected the city from damage during the millennia. The stairs in the photo above were clearly shattered during an eruption before the devastating eruption of 1600 BC.