Visit the City of Ia in Santorini Greece

The site of Ia according to many people surpasses even that to the capital city, Fira. The colorful caviled cave of intimate little houses is the embodiment of the Greek dream. There is almost now travel agency which does not have photos of this place to attract visitor to Hellas. The characteristic architecture of Santorini was defined by the geographic conditions. Here it was possible to make a virtue out of necessity. The island lack water, wood, and food. The poor families made full use of the easily workable pumice stone rocks and deepened cave flats into the steep sides of Caldera.

In the 19th century, nearly one half of the population lived in cave flats. The caves had a lot of head room. The rooms were separated by walls. They got fresh air and light through the door. In the front, there’s was a living room, in the back which did not get as much light, the bedroom. The kitchen was in the living room, the bathroom on the terrace next to the cistern. In the middle ages, the cave also protected from pirate attacks. Later, wealthier people supplemented these caves with four buildings. Building materials supplied by the volcanic stone dug from the cave. The Barrel Fault, due to like of wood was made of stone. The terraces are separated by low plastered stone rails and little wooden gates.

The roads are substituted or supplemented by winding stairs. The use of white, blue and recently pastel colors is the characteristic as the decoration used. The style itself is called either Aegean or Cycladic. In spite of its simplicity, it could not be established on the other Greek islands. By local standards, Ia is a big city so of course it has it's own harbor.

It has, just like the other Greek harbors an abundance of restaurants. Let see how this are different from each other. The most known taverns are simple little pubs with the rustic furniture. The [Foreign Language] are little restaurants offering a wider range of meals.

The Psistarias are particularly grill restaurants specializing in barbecues and spit roasted meals. The restaurants offering mostly fish and fruit of the sea are called sorrow taverns. Of course it's the latter that are wide spread in the harbors. It’s certain that ingredients are always fresh and they did not lack the necessary cooking expertise. Fish, crabs, and clams are often grilled here perhaps in olive oil. Lemon always goes with them and the golden Greek wine slides down the throat smoothly with this.

The Octopudi are octopus, the calamari, the garides or crab, the [Foreign Language] or mussels are also popular. The tastiest kinds of fish are barboona or red barb and glossa which is salt. Salmon is a delicacy together with the swordfish which can grow to several meters in size. The sword of this fish often decorates the wall of fish restaurants.

The harbor still operates primarily as a fishing harbor but it does not have a fish market. It seems all of the pray is up in the kitchens of local restaurants. The harbor can be approach by car, by way of a winding certainty. But by all means, it’s more stylish on donkey back.

Ia was built on the end of the road following the Caldera. Up until World War 2, it was the economic and administrative center of the island. It was devastated by an earthquake in 1956. After that, it displayed a very sad image for a long time. What we see today was built up in the past 20 years also taking the demands of the international tourism into consideration. In the 20th century, we got use to the fact that the high allotment prices of big cities force contractors to design high rise, type-A built houses with little floor space.

In the middle ages, other reasons played a role obviously but the houses of the old towns are huddled up against each other very closely as if they were cold or afraid to stand alone. At that time, for the purposes of defense, they often built houses on hills and cliffs. This is how fast winding little road were created. Climbing up the hillside and descending down the valley, quite suddenly leading into little squares in passage ways. This is what results in the fact that older cities are much more difficult to get around than the quadratic modern cities with avenues so they appear larger than they actually are.

Ia is not very big. However, if we would like to get to know it well, we can roam about it for days. It’s nice to take delight in small details. The pavement of terraces, the knockers on the doors, the flowers pots reminiscence of old Greek Amphoras, the raw iron handrails and lamps. Beautifully carved photo album or calendars make nice souvenirs or gifts.

After the many churches of Ia, the Agio Sansone and Temple of the Virgin Mary are worth mentioning. The Greek Orthodox churches were built in the middle ages as a demonstration against the still spreading of Catholicism. Actually, this national and religious opposition is the reason for the unbelievably high number of orthodox churches which are still visible on Santorini. For instance the nearby island of Anafi is famous for having almost as many churches and chapels as a residence.

As in every place which is visited by masses of tourists, on Santorini, locals are also tries to dump a lot of cheap, low value souvenirs on the suspecting visitor. But those who devote sometime can buy really original ornamental pieces with real artistic value in the shops of Ia. The prices are not always low but one single unique painting, vase or sculpture can decorate an entire room.

As Robert Merle wrote, “And as many of us have realized by ourselves, reality often surpasses the imagination.” This can be felt on Santorini and especially in the city of Ia.

One hour before sunset like swallows on the wire, the tourist gather mostly equipped with cameras or camcorders to stop time and capture what cannot be recorded. But the image which we take with us within our hearts is more lasting.

Behind the bulky thatched windmill, the sun shines like molten gold. Its circle is still high but the shadows are stretching and the incredible blue of the sky takes on a purple cast then the snow white houses start to get darker. Here and there, all lamps are lit. Or on the terrace one of the houses, some night lights start to flicker. The sun reaches the end of its journey and it sinks into the sea exhausted. Devotional silence greets this moment.

Then slowly, night life starts. The streets are filled with the people and the terraces of taverns are also occupied. Then next to a glass of Ouzo or retina, resolutions are made next year, here, again.