Was Atlantis Located On Santorini?

When we talk about Atlantis, which we have talked about many times before, we have to think of an advanced people. It is amazing, everything that many of the ancient Greeks talked about seems to be historic and not fiction. Atlantis has not been found yet, but after examining Santorini and some of the surrounding islands I have reached the conclusion that Atlantis must have been in this area. I didn't actually go to these places, although I would have loved to. I examined these places by research, using my trusty dual core computer. Some of you surely are asking yourselves, why in the world would I pick an area like this and make such a bold statement about it? It is very simple, Santorini seems to have been way more advanced 3,500 years ago than anywhere else and it was struck by a disaster of tremendous proportions that fits the Atlantis tale.

The islands I am talking about were part of the Minoan civilization and I believe that it was the Minoans that were the Atlantians. The main island was formed directly over a volcano. As the pressure increased, it had no where to go and the volcano exploded taking much of the main island with it. It was on this main island that it is believed existed the circular canals and central city of the Minoan empire. Plato stated that the Atlantians had constructed canals in a ring pattern with a straight canal running through the rings right to the main part of the city. This allowed ships to transverse the canals easily and enter and exit the sea. The volcano that was under the ancient city has built itself up again and many feel that it is getting ready to blow all over. Researchers state that the original explosion was ten times greater than the explosion at Krakatoa. On August 25, 1883, Krakatoa exploded four times. The blast was equivalent to 100 megatons of TNT. As I said, the blast at Atlantis (if you agree this was Atlantis) must have been equal to 1000 megatons of TNT. As with Krakatoa, it has been determined that the surrounding islands were subject to horrible tsunamis, that were caused by material falling into the ocean.

When it was discovered that way more ash had covered some of the islands than first suspected, deeper excavations began. Then an astounding discovery was made, an entire town was uncovered. Before I go on to describe the town, I want you to keep in mind that this town was 3,500 years old and existed in a time when most people lived in huts. One archeologist commented that she didn't realize that when she was walking inside of a house, that she was actually on the third floor, the rest of the house hadn't been dug out yet. To her amazement and the amazement of the rest of the world, the town was comprised of three and four story buildings. Not only that, but they had indoor plumbing and toilets. Something that was completely unheard of at the time. Could there be even greater discoveries to be made? Upon further examination it was found that the water pipes were of a mass manufactured design. they were sections of clay pipes that fit one into the other and the pipes circulated water throughout the entire building. The waste was flushed away by water and the toilets were constructed in such a manner that eliminated odor, since the flushing water would also siphon away the smell because of the waste pipe design. It is very scary to see the town, except for the lack of glass in the windows, it looks very modern.

The temples were of stone construction with many of them being made to be earthquake proof. This was accomplished by having a heavy wooden frame constructed that contained a heavy beam which would cut across the frame horizontally every 4 courses or so of stone blocks holding them tight while the entire wall was wedged between two standing beams at both ends. This made the walls very strong. Floating staircases rose as high as four stories, resembling those seen in a modern apartment building. They would go straight up, have a landing, then turn and travel up again to the next landing until they hit a floor, then they would continue. A system of shutters and room dividers was constructed that would allow light to penetrate even the most central of rooms and would also direct an air flow anywhere in the building. This was not just a temple, it was a very well designed building that would have made today's architects proud.

It is unfortunate that even a heavy stone building, such as the temple above, could not resist the giant tsunamis which carried huge pieces of debris that battered the temple walls and destroyed most of it. Some speculation states that since the temple was the most solid building in the area, it is felt that the people might have entered it for safety purposes when the explosions started. Little did they know that nothing would offer them safety, not even the solid walls of their temples.

Where did these people get their technology? Why were they so advanced? I guess one could say that since they traded with the entire world, it may be that they incorporated every good idea that they found into their civilization. I don't know if this is true or not, but I figure that this is as good a guess as any. It is hard to believe that the homes of these people were much like the homes in cities today. They would go out to work, come home, climb up to their second, third or fourth floor apartment, wash up, maybe use the toilet, then eat and relax. Bed frames were found from the town and they look just like a modern bed frames.

Some archeologists think that many of the survivors of the Minoan disaster took up residence in ancient Egypt. It might be that they lent their considerable building talents to many of the pharaoh's construction projects.

Was this Atlantis, can we swear to it? No we can't, but it certainly is one of the best candidates.

Santorini is a Greek Island. The eruption in 1,650 B.C. was one of the largest eruptions on earth in the last 10,000 years. It was so large that it dumped 7 cubic miles of material into the atmosphere. Scientists think that the pillar of plasma, at the time of the eruption, reached 23 miles into the air. This eruption was the probable cause of the end of the Minoan civilization on Crete. When Akroteri, another Minoan city that had an estimated population of 30,000 was examined, no bodies were found, indicating a successful evacuation. The city is buried in ash.