Oia – The Towns on the Santorini Caldera

The breathtaking sunset in Oia

Oia (pronounced I-a) is a small town on the northern edge of the island of Santorini, at the top of the crescent of the half-moon shaped caldera. The area only has about 1,200 permanent residents who are outnumbered on a daily basis by the crush of tourists that pour into Oia during the holiday season to catch its breathtaking, world-famous Aegean Sea sunset.

Oia’s scenic location on the northern edge of Santorini’s caldera and facing Therasia includes many preserved, pictureresque homes painted in the traditional whitewash style the Cyclades are famous for. There are also several Venetian houses with small incave village homes where the rest of the town’s population resides.

Among the sites on Santorini’s caldera, Oia is one of the premier attractions on the island. The world-famous Oia sunset, considered by many visitors to be the most spectacular in the world, inundates the village on a daily basis with flocks of tourists waiting for the moment when the sun begins to set below the horizon. Many tourists camp on the Oia town steps, the churches, the restaurants and fortifications  – practically taking every available open space – to watch the moment when the sun goes below the horizon and sets the sky ablaze in spectacular colors of reds, oranges and yellows, lighting up the Santorini caldera for all to see.

Unlike Thira (Fira), which has become heavily commercialized, Oia town retains a very small-town/village flavor with a nice mix of small, independent shops, art galleries, selling crafts, jewelry and other items only found on this part of Santorini. If you’re looking to get away from the bustle and noise of Thira, Oia is where you should stay as it is even though its only a few kilometers away from Thira, the quiet shop lined streets make you feel like you’re on a different island and not on the Santorini Caldera.

Within Oia are a few landmarks such as the very large Platani Church near the Central Square. From Oia, you can also walk down to Armeni Bay to the fishing port dock located at the bottom of the Santorini caldera – some say this is one of the longest continuously running ports in the world (over 3,000 years and running).  Beware as the footpath down to the port can become overcrowded with tourists especially during the sunset hours.

One of the most popular spots to watch the Oia Sunset is by the Kastro walls. While in Oia, don’t forget to photograph the views that Oia is world famous far, including the white and blue churches and houses contrasting against a fiery orange sun and azure Aegean Sea of the Santorini Caldera.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 6:09 am and is filed under Oia, Santorini, Santorini Caldera, Santorini Caldera Hotel, Santorini Caldera Sights, Santorini Hotel, Santorini Resort, Santorini Sunset. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.