FIRA

 

Fira Town is, also, the capital of Santorini and it is settled at the edge of the cliff.

 

From Fira you can enjoy the view of the volcano. You can arrive there from the port, "climbing" the 587 steps or with a donkey or a mule, the cable car, or if you have a car, from the central road. The cable car was a present from the local rich shipowner Nomikos, but until then, they used donkeys to climb to the town.

 

The capital was build during the 19th century, so it is a modern Cycladic city, because the old Venetian capital of Skaros was no longer reachable due to the earthquakes. The architecture of the city has Cycladic and Venetian elements and it has, also, been affected from the touristism because of the variety of restaurants, bars, cafés, etc. and the famous road of jewelry shops called “Gold Street”( Dromos tou Chrisou). Fira is the biggest town of the island and the touristic center as it is easily reachable from the other areas, with taxi, buses and around the central square you can find anything you need such as the police station, port police, hospital, pharmacies, banks etc. In the town, there are the Archaeological and the Prehistoric Museum of Thira, where there are findings displayed from the  excavations at Akrotiri and Ancient Thira.