THE CHRISTIANA ISLETS: CHRISTIANA, ASKIANA AND ESCHATI BETWEEN SANTORINI AND CRETE

The Christiana Islets consist of three rocky islands located 20 kilometers southwest of the island of Santorini. Today the islands are uninhabited and is a nature reserve where many species of birds (including falcons), but also a certain serpent (the "Cat Snake") has its home. Eschati is nowadays hardly above the sea level. The islands have a lot of rocks off the coast and it is therefore dangerous for large boats to sail in the area. Only fishing boats use the area. before the explosion of the volcano on Santorini these islands were inhabited. In 1976 Christos Doumas did research and excavations on Christiani and pottery was found. These finds are exhibited is the Museum of Prehistoric Thera in Fira town on Santorini. Nobody knows for sure what group of people have lived there. The pottery is different from the pottery that was found in Akrotiri (Santorini) and there are different theories. The population could have come from Amorgos, Keros or Santorini, but maybe it was an unknown group of people who belong to none of these islands, because the style of pottery is unique. There was also a mine in Christiana, but who has mined on the island remains unclear.

© Hans Huisman, https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ 2013