Mesa Gonia Santorini – Ruins and a Byzantine Church

Mesa Gonia Santorini: The Village the Earthquake Emptied

Mesa Gonia Santorini lies in a hollow on the eastern side of the island, between Pyrgos above and Kamari below, surrounded on every side by vineyards. It is about seven kilometres from Fira and it is one of the strangest places on Santorini to walk through. Book with Santorini Tours, a licensed local operator.

Gonia means corner, and there are two of them: Mesa Gonia, the inner corner, down in the fold of the land, and Exo Gonia, the outer corner, higher on the slope. This one is the older and it was once the larger.

Then came 1956 and everything about Mesa Gonia Santorini changed. The Amorgos earthquake, magnitude 7.7, wrecked the village. Most of the population walked down to Kamari and started again by the sea, and Mesa Gonia was left standing empty – roofless houses, collapsed vaults, open doorways and vines growing through the floors. Some of it has been restored since. A good deal of it has not.

What survived intact was the church, and it is one of the most important buildings in the Cyclades.

Where it is

Seven kilometres from Fira, five minutes from Kamari, five from Pyrgos, five from Exo Gonia, ten from the airport, twenty-five from Oia.

Why go

For Panagia Episkopi, a Byzantine church of around 1100 with eleventh and twelfth-century carving and icons inside; for the ruined houses; and for one of the oldest working wineries in Greece at the entrance to the village.

Panagia Episkopi: The Church at Mesa Gonia Santorini

Panagia Episkopi is the reason to come to Mesa Gonia Santorini, and it is a considerably bigger thing than its setting suggests.

What it is. A Byzantine church built around 1100, in the reign of Alexios I Komnenos, and the oldest substantially intact church on Santorini. It has stood through the Venetian and Ottoman centuries, the volcanic activity of the caldera and the earthquake that emptied the village around it.

The architecture. A domed cross-in-square plan in stone and brick, low and heavy and utterly unlike the whitewashed chapels visitors associate with the Cyclades. Marble columns and carved capitals were reused from earlier buildings, which was standard Byzantine practice.

Inside. Wall paintings, carved marble screens, and icons dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries onwards. The interior is dim and cool and there is usually nobody else in it.

The contested history. Under Venetian rule the church was taken for Catholic use, and it became the seat of a Catholic bishop – episkopi means bishopric. After the Ottoman conquest the local population returned it to Orthodox use. Disputes over its ownership ran on into the twentieth century, which is unusual for a village church and tells you how much it mattered.

Visiting. Opening hours are informal. Dress modestly, as at any working Greek church. The feast of the Dormition on 15 August is celebrated here and the village fills for the only day of the year on which it does.

Nothing else on this island is as old, as intact and as little visited as the church at Mesa Gonia Santorini.

What to See in Mesa Gonia Santorini

The ruined houses

Whole streets of Mesa Gonia Santorini stand as the earthquake left them: roofless rooms, collapsed barrel vaults, staircases going up to nothing, and doorways standing in walls that no longer enclose anything. Vines and capers have taken the interiors. It is not a managed ruin and there are no signs, which is exactly why it is worth seeing.

The restored houses

Interleaved with the ruins. Since the 2000s a slow trickle of owners has come back and rebuilt, so a repaired courtyard with a lemon tree stands next to a shell. That contrast is what Mesa Gonia Santorini looks like now.

Canava Roussos

At the entrance to Mesa Gonia Santorini, a family winery making wine since 1836 and one of the oldest continuously operating estates in Greece. The tasting room is a canava – a vaulted cellar cut into the volcanic rock – and the vineyards are the ones you drove past on the way in.

The vineyards

They surround the village completely. This hollow is one of the most important wine districts on the island, which is why a village this small once supported the trade it did.

The tavernas

Two or three, cooking for residents and for people who have come up from Kamari. No accommodation to speak of.

Exo Gonia above

Five minutes up the slope, with the view east, the Art Space winery and the old tomato factory. More on Exo Gonia.

The History of Mesa Gonia Santorini

Byzantine. The church of Mesa Gonia Santorini, built around 1100, tells you the settlement was significant long before that date. A village does not get a bishopric church by accident.

Venetian. Santorini formed part of the Duchy of Naxos from the thirteenth century. The church was taken for Catholic use and the surrounding villages retreated inland behind walls, because the Aegean belonged to whoever had the fastest ship.

Ottoman. The island passed to Ottoman control in the late sixteenth century with substantial local autonomy. The church returned to Orthodox use and the arguments about it ran for centuries.

Wine. The hollow around Mesa Gonia Santorini is prime vineyard land, and from the seventeenth century onward the island’s sweet Vinsanto went by the barrel to Russia as communion wine. Canava Roussos has been making wine at the village entrance since 1836, through every one of the changes that followed.

1956. The Amorgos earthquake. The village was wrecked. Most families moved down to Kamari on the coast, where there was flat land and, increasingly, work in tourism. Mesa Gonia was left standing but empty.

The empty decades. For forty years the village was effectively abandoned – ruins, a few remaining households, the church and the winery. Tourism arrived on the caldera in the 1970s and never came here at all.

Now. A slow, unfinished restoration. Some houses rebuilt, many still open to the sky, and a resident population measured in dozens. Mesa Gonia Santorini is the clearest surviving record on this island of what a mid-century earthquake actually did.

The Wine Around Mesa Gonia Santorini

Mesa Gonia Santorini sits in a bowl of vineyards, and those vineyards are unlike any others in Europe.

The vines are ungrafted. Phylloxera, the root louse that destroyed nearly every vineyard on the continent in the nineteenth century, cannot travel through Santorini’s volcanic sand, so nothing here was ever replanted onto American rootstock. Some root systems around Mesa Gonia Santorini are three or four hundred years old, renewed by burying a cane and letting it take root.

They are trained into koulara – low woven baskets at ground level, the fruit growing inside the coil. The meltemi would strip an upright vine, and there is effectively no rain between April and October, so the basket shelters the grapes and catches the night humidity condensing out of the sea air.

Assyrtiko is the grape: dry, mineral, high in acid, faintly saline. Athiri and Aidani blend with it. Nykteri is the oak-aged dry white. Vinsanto is the sweet wine, sun-dried on mats for a fortnight and aged for years in barrel.

Canava Roussos, at the entrance to the village, has been in the same family since 1836 and is among the oldest working estates in Greece. Several more sit within minutes.

Do not drive between them after tasting. Our wine tour covers three estates with all tastings included and nobody at the wheel who has been drinking.

Walking Mesa Gonia Santorini: A Route

Half an hour of walking in Mesa Gonia Santorini, and worth doing slowly.

Park at the entrance. By the winery. The lanes are narrow and there is nowhere to turn a car inside.

Walk to the church first. Panagia Episkopi stands slightly apart from the houses. Allow twenty minutes inside if it is open.

Then the ruined streets. Go slowly and look into the shells: you can read the barrel vaults, the cisterns under the floors, the ovens and the niches. This is domestic archaeology from within living memory.

Watch your footing. These are unmanaged ruins. Do not climb on walls, do not go inside a roofless building, and keep children close.

Look at what has been rebuilt. A restored courtyard beside a shell is the characteristic image of Mesa Gonia Santorini.

Finish at Canava Roussos. A tasting in a rock-cut cellar at the village entrance.

Then go up to Exo Gonia. Five minutes for the view east and dinner. More on Exo Gonia.

Getting to Mesa Gonia Santorini

Driving to Mesa Gonia Santorini. Fifteen minutes from Fira, five from Kamari, five from Pyrgos, ten from the airport, twenty-five from Oia. Park at the entrance by the winery.

By bus. Services on this side are thinner than the Fira–Oia and Fira–Perissa routes. The Kamari bus gets you close; expect a walk uphill.

On foot from Kamari. About forty minutes up the slope through the vineyards.

By taxi. Possible, though the island’s licensed fleet is very small.

On a tour. Mesa Gonia Santorini sits between Kamari, Exo Gonia, Pyrgos and Ancient Thera, so it fits naturally into a private itinerary of the eastern side. The historical tour and the full day tour both work this part of the island.

By transfer. Our private transfers run from the airport and both ports from 40€ per vehicle.

Staying here

There is essentially no accommodation in the village. Stay in Kamari five minutes below, Pyrgos five minutes above, or Mesaria on the plain.

Mesa Gonia Compared With the Other Villages

Against Exo Gonia. The natural pair, five minutes up the slope. Exo Gonia has the view east, the tavernas and Art Space; Mesa Gonia Santorini has the Byzantine church, the ruins and the 1836 winery. Do both in one afternoon. More on Exo Gonia.

Against Pyrgos. Five minutes above and a proper destination: castle, kastelli, and the best all-island view. This village is what Pyrgos would look like if the earthquake had won. More on Pyrgos.

Against Emporio. Emporio has the intact medieval kastelli, which is the more complete thing to walk through. Mesa Gonia has the older church and the ruins. More on Emporio.

Against Kamari. Five minutes downhill, and the village most of this one’s population moved to in 1957. Black sand, a promenade, bars and hotels. The two together are the whole story. More on Kamari.

Against Oia and Fira. No comparison and no competition. Those are the caldera. Oia · Fira.

When to Visit Mesa Gonia Santorini

April and May. The best window for Mesa Gonia Santorini. The hollow is green, capers and wildflowers are coming out of the ruined walls, and the light is soft.

June to August. Hot, and the village sits in a bowl with little through-breeze. Early morning or after five. The church interior is cool at any hour.

15 August. The feast of the Dormition at Panagia Episkopi, and the one day of the year the village is full. Worth planning around if you want to see it alive.

September. Harvest all around the village. The best month to be here.

October. Quiet, warm and the finest light of the year on the broken walls.

November to March. Very quiet. Some tavernas close and the church keeps informal hours. Mesa Gonia Santorini in winter is close to deserted, which some people will consider the point.

Time of day

Late afternoon. The low sun comes into the roofless rooms sideways and the ruins photograph far better than they do at noon.

Photographing Mesa Gonia Santorini

The ruins of Mesa Gonia Santorini. Roofless rooms with the sky in them, collapsed vaults, doorways in freestanding walls. Late afternoon, when the light comes in sideways rather than straight down.

The church. The exterior is low, stone and brick, and reads best from a slight distance. Ask before photographing inside, and never use flash on old paintings.

The contrast. A restored courtyard with a lemon tree, framed against a shell next door. That single frame explains Mesa Gonia Santorini better than any caption.

The vines. Basket-trained, ground level, and strange. They surround the village.

Canava Roussos. Vaulted rock cellar and barrels. Very low light.

Technical. High contrast between broken walls and sky – expose for the stone and let the sky go. Nobody will be in your way at any hour.

Courtesy and safety. People live here again. The ruins are not an attraction and they are not maintained: stay out of the buildings, off the walls, and away from anything overhead.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mesa Gonia Santorini

How do you pronounce it? Roughly “MEH-sa go-NIA”. It means “inner corner”. The area is also called Episkopi Gonia after the church.

Where is it? In a hollow on the eastern side of the island, seven kilometres from Fira, between Pyrgos above and Kamari below.

Why is it ruined? The Amorgos earthquake of 1956, magnitude 7.7, wrecked the village. Most residents moved down to Kamari and did not come back.

Is Mesa Gonia a ghost town? Not quite. It was effectively abandoned for decades, but a number of houses have been restored and people live here again. Many buildings are still roofless.

Is it worth visiting? Yes. Panagia Episkopi is the oldest intact church on Santorini and the ruined streets are unlike anything else on the island.

What is Panagia Episkopi? A Byzantine church of around 1100 with eleventh and twelfth-century carving and icons, built in the reign of Alexios I Komnenos.

Can I go inside the church? Usually, at informal hours. Dress modestly.

How long do I need? Half an hour to an hour, or half a day with Exo Gonia, Pyrgos and a winery.

Can you stay there? Essentially no. Stay in Kamari, Pyrgos or Mesaria.

Is there a caldera view? No. The village sits in a hollow on the eastern side.

Is it safe to walk among the ruins? The lanes are fine. The buildings are not maintained – do not go inside them or climb on the walls.

What is Canava Roussos? A family winery at the village entrance, making wine since 1836 and one of the oldest working estates in Greece.

Is it accessible? Partly. The lanes are uneven and there are steps and loose stone.

How do I get there without a car? Buses on this side are sparse; a tour with pickup or a taxi is more reliable.

Tours That Include Mesa Gonia Santorini

We are a licensed local operator with guides who live on the island year round. Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, pickup is included from anywhere including both ports, and an 80€ deposit confirms the date.

Historical tour – the archaeology and the Byzantine churches of the eastern side, with Ancient Thera on the ridge above.

Wine tour – four and a half hours from 650€, three estates with all tastings included, in the vineyards around this village.

Full day tour – eight hours from 460€, the whole island with a traditional village stop.

Food tour – five hours from 556€, producers and a sit-down meal.

Personalised tour – from 220€, built around the villages and the churches if that is what you want.

Every itinerary and all prices are on the santorini tours page, and our private transfers cover the airport and both ports from 40€.

Is Mesa Gonia Santorini Worth Visiting?

Yes, and Mesa Gonia Santorini offers a reason no other village on the island can offer. Santorini sells itself on a view created by a volcanic catastrophe three and a half thousand years ago. Here you can walk through what a catastrophe actually looks like seventy years on: roofless rooms, a staircase to nothing, capers in the walls, and a lemon tree in the courtyard next door where somebody came back.

Above it all stands a church that was already nine hundred years old when the earthquake struck and did not move.

Give it an hour. Add Exo Gonia five minutes up the slope and Pyrgos five minutes beyond that, and you have the best afternoon on the eastern side of the island.

Send us your dates and party size and we will build a day around Mesa Gonia Santorini and its neighbours.

What Mesa Gonia Santorini Costs

Almost nothing, which is unusual for anything on this island.

The church. Free. A donation box, and nothing more.

The ruined streets. Free, unfenced and unmanaged.

Canava Roussos tasting. Around 15–25€ a head at the estate.

Taverna lunch or dinner. 15–25€ a head with wine.

Coffee. 2–3€.

Transfer from the airport. 40€ per vehicle for one or two people, ten minutes away.

A private tour. From 220€ for the whole vehicle, pickup included from wherever you are staying.

An afternoon in Mesa Gonia Santorini costs the price of a tasting and a meal, and it is the most interesting hour on this side of the island.

Practical Notes for Mesa Gonia Santorini

Parking. At the entrance by the winery. Do not drive into the lanes; there is nowhere to turn.

Shoes. Loose stone, uneven lanes and rubble in places. Proper shoes, not sandals.

Safety. The ruins are not maintained. Stay out of the buildings and off the walls.

The church. Informal opening hours. Dress modestly and do not use flash inside.

Shops. None to speak of. Buy what you need in Kamari or Mesaria.

Money. Carry cash. The nearest ATMs are in Kamari.

Shade. Very little. The hollow holds heat in August.

Respect. People have moved back into Mesa Gonia Santorini and the restored houses are homes, not exhibits. The ruins next door belong to families too.

An Afternoon on the Eastern Side

Mesa Gonia Santorini works best as one stop of three, because all of them are within five minutes of each other.

Four o’clock – Mesa Gonia. The church first, then the ruined streets, then a tasting at Canava Roussos.

Five thirty – Exo Gonia. Five minutes up the slope for the lanes, the church terrace and an hour underground at Art Space.

Seven – Pyrgos. Five minutes further up to the castle at the summit for the view across both coasts and the sunset from the ridge, with no crowd in it.

Nine – dinner. A terrace in Exo Gonia or Pyrgos at a third of caldera prices.

That itinerary costs a tank of fuel, a tasting and a meal, and most of our guests rate it above the day they spent queueing in Oia.

Everywhere We Can Reach From Mesa Gonia Santorini

Any of these can be built into a private itinerary. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.

Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes

Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Pigadia

Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi

Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port

All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour

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