Santorini's Architecture
Santorini's special conditions: earthquakes, climate, historical conditions, terrain, building material have affected and shaped Santorini's architecture. Santorini's architecture could be described as simple and unpretentious. The cave houses dug out of the rock (called iposkafta) are very characteristic examples of Santorini's architecture. The facts that the earth does not collapse when it is tunnelled through, the lack of construction materials, the need for protection from the strong winds and the threat of Pirates obliged the islanders to create this Architectural technique in order to house themselves. Most of the cave houses consist of only a single room which in most of the cases is separated into two compartments: The outer room (living room) and the inner room (bedroom). On the exterior of the houses we usually find a door with two leaves and a window above accentuating the vaulting of the roof. This way the interior could be ventilated while at the same time the house was cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
In the late eighth century AD, after the destruction by pirates of the cities and villages, the first fortified settlements called Castelia made their appearance. There were five castelia on the island: Skaros which was the headquarters of the Latin population, Agios Nikolaos et Epano Meria (modern Oia), Pyrgos, Emborio and Akrotiri. Castelia consisted of small houses set closely together and interconnected with narrow alleys. Since, these villages were defense oriented, the houses were arranged at right angles forming concentric rings.
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