Santorini Museums: Tribute to the history of the Greek island
In Santorini you can find quite a lot of museums. Much more than anyone should expect from an island of Cyclades. This happens due to the great popularity of Santorini and the millions of visitors who can support the founding and function of any kind of museum.
Besides the traditional settlements, the volcanic scenery, archaeological sites and the wineries that contribute to the island’s projection, a tourist in Santorini can also visit the museums where he can gather information in an organised matter about the history and the culture of the island.
We have gathered information about some of Santorini’s museums and we present them to you below:
The Archaeological Museum of Thira
At the center of Fira the Archaeological Museum of Thira is located. At its halls you can see collections of sculptures and writings from the Archaic till the Roman period, as well as pottery vessels and idols made of clay.
Of the most significant exhibits are the great volcanic stone weighting 480 kilos, the Thiracian vessel with geometrical decoration which has been excavated from the ancient cemetery of Thira and it is dated tou the 7th century B.C.
The Prehistoric Museum of Thira
Through the exhibits of the Prehistoric Museum of Thira you can have a taste of the status of the island being one of the most important Aegean centers during the 18th and 17th century B.C. You can also come across to some findings dated back to the 5th millennium (Later Neolithic period).
For many of you all these may be extremely interesting and would like to learn as much as possible, you have the choice to book a Historical Private Tour from our site and experience a 5 hours private tour from special archaeologists and learn more about the history and the culture of Santorini.
The Naval Museum of Thira
This museum is located at Oia. With numerous exhibits the Naval Museum of Thira tries to establish to the visitor the naval history of the island especially during the peak at the 19th century when the Santorinian sailing boats where crossing the east Mediterranean sea, from the Black Sean to Egypt, transporting Santorinian wine for the orthodox churches of the Russian Empire that was used for Holy Communion. This huge network of sea trade brought wealth to the island which help grow even more.
The Folklore Museum of Santorini
This museum is a private initiative that will travel you back in time. Among the exhibits of the museum are the Santorinian House which a traditional house built in 1861 and includes authentic decoration and furniture, the Spilia-Kannava which the traditional place where the wine making of Santorinian grape was taking place.
We would also recommend a private tour in Santorini which you can book from our website. Experience a 5 hours private tour to the most distinct wineries and combine perfectly history and wine tasting.
The Santorini Museums Worth an Hour, One by One
The four museums described above are the core. The island has more than that, and the full set of Santorini museums covers archaeology, seafaring, wine, industry and village life. These are the ones we take guests to, what each holds, and whether it earns the time.
The Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Fira. The finds from Akrotiri: the golden ibex figurine, painted pottery, plaster casts of wooden furniture taken from voids in the ash, and wall paintings. Of all the Santorini museums this is the one to see if you see only one, and it is the correct companion to the excavation itself.
The Archaeological Museum of Thera, second of the Santorini museums in Fira. Near the top of the cable car, holding the classical and later material from Ancient Thera and its cemeteries, with a remarkable run of archaic sculpture and inscriptions.
The Naval Museum, Oia, the seafaring one among Santorini museums. In a restored nineteenth-century captain’s house. Figureheads, ship models, charts and instruments from the years when Oia’s sailing fleet carried Santorini wine across the eastern Mediterranean.
The Folklore Museum, Kontochori, the village-life one among Santorini museums. A short walk from Fira, built around a nineteenth-century house and a cave canava, with the workshops of the trades that kept the island running before tourism.
The wine museum, Vothonas. Underground, in a tunnel, with the working year of a Santorini vineyard laid out stage by stage. The cave wine museum is the most enjoyable of the Santorini museums for most visitors and ends with a tasting.
The Tomato Industrial Museum, Vlychada. A 1945 cannery kept as it was left, with the machinery in place. A strange and very good hour, and the least expected of all Santorini museums.
The Lost Atlantis Experience, Megalochori. A modern interactive exhibition connecting the Bronze Age eruption to Plato’s Atlantis. Built for families, and it explains the geology before you go and look at it.
Megaro Gyzi, Fira, the earthquake archive among Santorini museums. A seventeenth-century mansion in the old Catholic quarter, now a cultural centre with documents, engravings, maps and photographs of the island before and after the 1956 earthquake.
The Santozeum, Fira. Full-size reproductions of the Akrotiri frescoes, the originals of which are in Athens. Useful if the Museum of Prehistoric Thera left you wanting to see the paintings in sequence.
The Monastery of Profitis Ilias. On the summit above Pyrgos, with a small collection of icons, manuscripts and a preserved workshop quarter showing how a self-sufficient monastery worked.
The Argyros Mansion, Messaria. A neoclassical captain’s house from the 1880s, restored with its painted ceilings and original furniture. Not always counted among the Santorini museums, and one of the most atmospheric of them.
Art Space, Exo Gonia. A working canava cut into the rock that is half winery and half gallery.
The honest ranking of Santorini museums. Prehistoric Thera first, the wine museum second, the Naval Museum third. Everything else depends on what interests you.
What the Museums Explain About the Island
Taken together, the Santorini museums tell one continuous story, and it is worth knowing the outline before walking into any of them.
A Bronze Age port. Akrotiri was a wealthy trading town in contact with Minoan Crete, Egypt and the Levant, and the Museum of Prehistoric Thera shows what that wealth bought.
The eruption. Around 1600 BC the island blew apart, buried the town, and gave the caldera its shape. Every one of the Santorini museums sits on top of that event.
The Dorian and Roman town. Resettled on Mesa Vouno, and the subject of the Archaeological Museum.
The Venetian centuries in the Santorini museums. Fortified villages, a large Catholic community, and the kastelia you can still walk through.
The captains the Santorini museums remember. A nineteenth-century merchant fleet carrying wine to Russia and the Black Sea, which paid for the mansions in Oia, Karterados and Messaria.
The industries. Wine, tomato paste and pumice, all of which the smaller Santorini museums document.
The earthquake. 9 July 1956, magnitude 7.5, and the island emptied of half its people.
Tourism. From the 1970s onward, and the reason the island can now support this many museums at all.
Why it matters. Seen in that order, the Santorini museums turn a beautiful view into a place with a history, which is the whole point of going inside.
Fitting the Museums Into a Day
The single most useful thing about Santorini museums is that they are indoors. On an island with no shade and forty-degree afternoons, that makes them the right answer to the middle of a summer day.
The midday rule. Nothing exposed between twelve and four in July and August. The Santorini museums in Fira are ten minutes apart on foot and both air-conditioned, which is exactly what that block needs.
Pair the Santorini museums with their sites: Prehistoric Thera with Akrotiri. See the finds and then the town they came from, on the same day or on consecutive ones. Either order works; together they are the best half-day of archaeology in the Aegean.
Pair the Archaeological Museum with Ancient Thera. The site is morning-only in summer and the museum fills the afternoon.
The combined ticket. One ticket covers Akrotiri, Ancient Thera and the two archaeological Santorini museums in Fira over several days, for less than buying them separately. Nobody at the gate volunteers this.
Closing days. The two Fira museums close on different days of the week, which catches people out. Check both before building a day around them.
Greek holidays. 1 January, 25 March, Orthodox Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December close most state sites and museums.
Winter hours. Shorter, and some private Santorini museums close entirely from November to March. The state museums stay open.
How long the Santorini museums take. An hour for Prehistoric Thera, forty-five minutes for the Archaeological Museum, an hour for the Naval Museum, an hour with the tasting for the wine museum.
Oia and the northernmost of the Santorini museums. Go at nine, before the crowd, and it sets up the rest of the village properly.
The south cluster. The wine museum at Vothonas, the Lost Atlantis Experience at Megalochori and the tomato museum at Vlychada sit close together. Three Santorini museums in one afternoon, all indoors.
With a cruise call. Prehistoric Thera sits a few minutes’ walk from the top of the cable car, which makes it the only museum that fits comfortably into a short shore day.
On a windy day. When the meltemi cancels the boats, the Santorini museums are the obvious replacement plan and they fill accordingly.
What not to do with Santorini museums. Four museums in a day. By the third one nothing registers.
The order we use. Prehistoric Thera in the morning, Akrotiri at midday under its roof, a winery in the afternoon, and the Naval Museum on another day with Oia.
Which Museum for Which Interest
The Santorini museums divide cleanly by subject, and choosing by interest rather than by fame saves a wasted hour.
For the Bronze Age. The Museum of Prehistoric Thera, then Akrotiri, then the Santozeum if you want the frescoes in full sequence. Among Santorini museums this is the strongest subject by a distance.
For the classical and Roman island. The Archaeological Museum of Thera, then Ancient Thera on its ridge.
Santorini museums for the sea. The Naval Museum in Oia, which explains why a dry volcanic rock produced a merchant fleet and a village of captains’ houses.
Santorini museums for wine. The underground wine museum at Vothonas, then two estates. Santorini wine has been made continuously since the Bronze Age, and the museum is the clearest explanation of how.
Santorini museums for everyday island life. The Folklore Museum at Kontochori, with its house, cave canava and trades.
For the industrial past. The Tomato Industrial Museum at Vlychada, the most unexpected of all Santorini museums.
For the nineteenth-century wealth. The Argyros Mansion at Messaria, and a walk past the captains’ houses in Karterados and Oia.
For the 1956 earthquake. Megaro Gyzi in Fira, where the photographs show the island before and after.
For religious art. Profitis Ilias monastery, and Panagia Episkopi at Mesa Gonia, the oldest standing building on the island.
Santorini museums for children. The Lost Atlantis Experience, which is interactive and built for families, and the wine museum’s tunnel, which children find more interesting than adults expect.
For a rainy or windy day. Any of the Fira Santorini museums, and the wine museum, which is underground and therefore immune to everything.
Santorini museums for photographers. The tomato factory and the Argyros Mansion, both of which are extraordinary rooms.
For people who say they do not like museums. The wine museum. It ends with a glass, and nobody has ever complained about it.
For a single hour, whatever your interest. The Museum of Prehistoric Thera. If the Santorini museums were reduced to one building, this would be it.
Santorini Museums: The Questions We Are Asked
Which is the best museum on Santorini? The Museum of Prehistoric Thera in Fira, for the Akrotiri finds.
Are the Akrotiri frescoes on the island? Some pieces are, in the Museum of Prehistoric Thera. The most famous originals are in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and full reproductions are shown at the Santozeum.
How many Santorini museums are there? A dozen or so worth a visitor’s time, from the two state archaeological museums to private collections, a cannery and a wine tunnel.
Is there a combined ticket? Yes. It covers Akrotiri, Ancient Thera and both archaeological museums in Fira over several days.
Which are open in winter? The state museums, on shorter hours. Several private ones close from November to March.
Are the Santorini museums air-conditioned? The main ones are, which is the practical reason to put them in the middle of a summer day.
Which of the Santorini museums is best for children? The Lost Atlantis Experience, and the wine museum’s underground tunnel.
Can we do the museums on a cruise day? The Museum of Prehistoric Thera, yes, a few minutes’ walk from the top of the cable car. The rest are too far out for a short call.
Are the Santorini museums accessible? The Fira museums are the most accessible. The Naval Museum in Oia and the cave collections involve steps.
How long do we need? One day covers the Fira pair, Akrotiri and a winery. The complete set of Santorini museums needs two.
Is the wine museum worth it if we do a winery tour anyway? Yes. It explains the working year in a way no tasting room does.
Can we take photographs? Without flash in most, and not at all in some rooms. The signs are clear.
Seeing Them With Us
The historical route. The Museum of Prehistoric Thera, Akrotiri under its roof, the Archaeological Museum and Ancient Thera, paced over one long day or two short ones. It is the most complete way to see the archaeological Santorini museums together with the sites they come from.
The wine and museum afternoon. The cave wine museum, then two estates, with somebody else driving.
The south cluster. Vothonas, Megalochori and Vlychada in one indoor afternoon, which is the right plan for a day the wind closes the boats.
Oia properly, starting with one of the Santorini museums. The Naval Museum at nine, the village before the crowd, and Amoudi below.
What we will tell you. Which Santorini museums suit what you actually care about, which days they close, and which one to drop if the time is short. Send us your dates and we will build it around the opening hours rather than around a template. Our private tours cover every one of them.
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