The Akrotiri archaeological site on the island of Santorini is scheduled to finally open its doors during Orthodox Easter Holy Week after being closed for more than six and a half years, just in time to welcome visitors for the 2012 Greek tourist season. The site closed its doors to the general public in 2005 just prior to its completion. Fortunately no damages were recorded to the antiquities, however the incident claimed the life o a UK tourist from Wales, and injured two Slovenian tourists, two Americans, a German and a Greek citizen, three of which were said to be seriously hurt. As a result of this, the site was closed to visitors.
No worries though, the new roof is rock solid and very safe. It was constructed from sturdy stainless steel and wood. So if you are in Santorini this summer make the prehistoric settlement a MUST on your itinerary..
Akrotiri is named for a modern Greek village situated on a hill nearby. The name of the site in antiquity is unknown.
It was buried by the widespread Theran eruption in the middle of the second millennium BC (during the Late Minoan IA period); as a result, like the Roman ruins of Pompeii after it, it is remarkably well-preserved. Frescoes, pottery, furniture, advanced drainage systems and three-story buildings have been discovered at the site, whose excavation was started in 1967 by Spyridon Marinatos.
Wikipedia says that Certain historians hold this settlement, as well as the disaster that left it unknown to most of history, as the inspiration behind Plato's story of Atlantis, as mentioned in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias. Excavated artifacts have been installed in a museum distant from the site (Museum of Prehistoric Thera), with many objects and artworks presented. Only a single gold object has been found, hidden beneath flooring, and no uninterred human skeletal remains have been found. This indicates that an orderly evacuation was performed with little or no loss of life.
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