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Geological testing was done at the site in 2005, for the purpose of placing pillars in solid ground so that the stability of the roof would not be an issue in the event of an earthquake. What they found while using high resolution travel time tomography, a method of getting images from under the surface of the earth using waves of energy, were underground cavities. These were both man made and natural. The man made gaps in the earth were filled with rocks, ceramics, and other items of interest to archeologists. Before drilling the new shafts and setting the pillars...

Although ancient ruins in Akrotiri were discovered in 1860 by workers quarrying volcanic rock for the Suez Canal, large scale excavations there didn't begin until 1967. An archeologist by the name of Spyridon Marinatos suspected there were extensive ruins beneath the farmlands at Akrotiri and wrote about his theory in 1936. Due to the outbreak of World War II and the Greek Civil War, he had to postpone his explorations. Earlier digs in the area had been destroyed by plowing of the fields and there were no written records of where they had taken place or what the findings were....

While approximately forty buildings have been uncovered at Akrotiri, there are six that have been given more attention than the others. The architecture and function of each building is different. The largest building uncovered so far, Xeste 4, is three stories high and believed to be a public building because of its dimensions. The staircase had fragments of frescoes on either side depicting males ascending in a procession. The second largest building, Xeste 3, was at least two stories high, with fourteen rooms on each floor. The rooms were decorated with paintings and some had more than one door. One...

With the archeological site at Akrotiri closed, and no firm date set for it to reopen, many visitors to the island of Santorini have been disappointed not to see what is inside the Akrotiri enclosure. Although it doesn't replace seeing the amazing number of buildings that have been uncovered, around 40 so far, the museums on the island hold a fair amount of artifacts and photographs of wall paintings. If archeology is at the top of your list of reasons for visiting Santorini, here are some helpful phone numbers to call and confirm hours and days they are open. The...

The excavations at the archeological site at Akrotiri in Santorini are ongoing, so there is scaffolding everywhere and supports in place to stabilize walls, windows and doorways that might otherwise collapse. You need to use your imagination to put yourself back in prehistoric times, but with the help of guides or signs posted along the walkways, you can get a fair idea of what life was like. An excavated toilet, pictured in the slide show, has been left in view for the amusement of the tourists and to demonstrate how advanced the plumbing and drainage system was. The inhabitants had...

The site was found by accident when the Suez Canal was being constructed in 1860. Workers quarrying Santorini's volcanic ash discovered the ruins, but serious excavations at the site didn't begin until 1967. An unfortunate collapse of the roof in 2005, which killed a British tourist, caused the site to be closed. It's scheduled to be reopened sometime after 2010. Greek bureaucracy has brought the repairs of the building to a halt, which has caused Santorini's tourist trade to suffer. Akrotiri is referred to by some as the "Minoan Pompeii" because of the similarities of the destruction by volcano and...