The cultivation of vine in Santorini goes back some 3.500 years ago. Findings from the excavations of the prehistoric town of Akrotiri show that vine cultivation,wine making and wine trade were the habitants' important activities.
The volcanic eruption in the 17th Century BC led to the extinction of every trace of human life and vegetation on the island for about 3 centuries.
According to Herodotus, the first colonists that went to Santorini after the disaster were the Phoenicians who,as well as their followers, had to face the extreme ecosystem in order to survive and to meet their food needs they tried to cultivate various kinds of plants that they brought with them and with which they were familiar.
Only vine managed to survive over the centuries in the inhospitable environment of Santorini.
It is an easily adaptable and particularly tenacious plant as far as the hot & dry conditions of the island are concerned, while it possesses a rich and strong system of roots that penetrate the volcanic ground.
The locals call "ASPA"this hard solid ground that was created by the concecutive layers of volcanic matter including ash, lava, pumice and rust and covered the limestone and slate subsoil during the successive eruptions.
Centuries of human labor are stampled on the island's landscape and prove the efforts made by the local people to hardness their land.
The cultivated area begins at an altitude of 300 meters and the vines go all the way down to the level of the sea.
The vine dressers built dry stone walls with pieces of petrified lava in order to protect the soil from erosion caused by the strong winds that sweep across the island throughout the year,to increase the cultivable land and to limit the loss of water due to minimal rainfall.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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