Santorini in Art

Famous poets and novelists have been inspired by Santorini. George Seferis, Odysseus Elytis, Elias Venezis, I. M. Panagiotopoulos, Tassos Athanassiadis and others have described this unique place in their own way.

The island has also inspired important painters such as Nikolaos Hadjikyriakos-Gikas, Paris Prekas, Petros Zoumboulakis, Christophoros Asimis, Zoe Alafouzou, Mark Venios, Anna Mendrinou, Diana Antonakatou. Its settlements have been studied and admired by architects such as Le Corbusier, Savvas Kontaratos, Ioannis Kovanoudis and others.

From previous centuries up to today, Santorini has been captured in photos and videos by thousands of people. Those of the team that accompanied the German archaeologist and baron Hiller von Gaertringen (from 1895- 1905) the famous photographer Nelly (Nelly Sougioutzoglou-Seraidari) who visited the island for vacations and her photos were the only to picture Santorini before the 1956 earthquake, to name a few. Also photographer George Ioakeimidis, who recorded on glass plates the landscapes before the 1956 earthquake and before the 1925 and 1949-1950 eruptions. Robert A. McCabe devoted pages for Santorini in his album of Greece titled "The years of innocence" (1954-1965). The list goes on and includes many famous and modern photographers.

Santorini will never stop being a source of inspiration. Perpetually changing, grand, and imperious, it challenges every generation to use its own means and aesthetics in order to confront a phenomenon way above human measures. And it will remain unpredictable and untamed forever.