Ancient Akrotiri is the most important of several archaeological sites on the Greek island of Santorini. Nicknamed
the "the Minoan Pompeii," the flourishing Minoan town of Aktrotiri was frozen in time around 1450 BC by a cataclysmic eruption of the island's volcano. Today, Akrotiri has been partially excavated and is protected from the sun inside a large shed. An outpost of Minoan Crete, Akrotiri archeological site was settled as early as 3000 BC and reached its peak after 2000 BC, when it developed trade and agriculture and settled the present town. Since the beginning of excavations, the Akrotiri ancient site has provided the world with a fascinating look at urban life in the Minoan period. Its elaborate architecture and vivid frescoes demonstrate the high level of culture on ancient Santorini GREECE.

Visitors enter the Akrotiri site along the ancient town's main street. On either side are the stores or warehouses of the ancient commercial city, in which numerous large earthen jars, or pithoi, were found, some with traces of olive oil, fish, and onion inside. You can get the best sense of the scale and urban nature of this town in the triangular plaza, near the exit, where buildings rise to two stories and create a spacious gathering place. You can imagine yourself some 3,000 years ago leaning over a balcony and spying on the passing scene - presumably a better-dressed and more decorous one than at the height of today's tourist season!.
There are descriptive plaques in four languages at various points along your path through the town, but unfortunately only a few poor reproductions of the magnificent wall paintings, some of which are on view at the Museum of Prehistoric Thira in Fira. As you leave Akrotiri site, you may notice a cluster of flowers beside one of the ancient walls