Emporio

Santorini Settlements and Villages

Emporio is another Mediterannean, castle like-community, which bears a lot of similarities to Pirgos, in a strange way. Both of them were built in the up country during Venetian conquest, due to the fear of pirates such as the infamous Hairedin Barbarosa who raided Santorini in 1537.

The settlement of Emporio is narrow, solid and enclosed; filled with small streets, arched alley ways, secret passages, dead ends and basements. The castel shutters leave you with a sense of forlornness, as you walk passed locked doors, tiny terraces and yards with flowers. Amongst all this stands a beautifully decorated, huge in height bell tower, orchestrating a three colour symphony og blue, ochre and white.

An old local described to me how life was here once upon a time: the bonds of true love, connecting the many times, 10 member families, were so unbelievably strong that no one ever winged when they had to all fit in the tiny rooms and sleep together every night, after a full and tiring day at the hills. Further down the road, in a stone thresh, two farmers are weeding out the wheat. And here, the past comes alive yet again, in a place where time seems to have completely stopped moving

 

EMPORIO