This city, located in a fabulously magnificent place of the Mediterranean. Fira is the capital of resort Greece. It is the main city of the island of Santorini.
A ten-minute drive from the center of Fira to the runway is Santorini Airport. This international airport can handle up to 500,000 tourists a year.
After arriving at the airport, you can book a transfer to the city or elsewhere on the island, as well as take advantage of professional guides.
For those who are new to the island will be useful sightseeing tour of Santorini. You can see the island in one day. During a tour, you can not only see the most interesting sights of the island, but also to decide on a place to stay, including the location of the beach. During the sightseeing tour you can visit the Greek Pompeii - the city of Actrotiri, admire the exquisite town of Emporio and visit the most romantic place of Santorini - the city of Iya.
Fira is the most tourist-friendly area of Santorini. Everything is done here so that the tourist will feel at home. Numerous hotels, cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, stores are located in the center of the city. All compact and convenient. Here, in the heart of Fira is the oldest district of the city - Francomahala. The streets of the district are historical buildings and shrines of Fira. The masterpiece of urban architecture is the miraculously preserved seventeenth century palace of Gizi.
There are not so many houses and streets remained from the ancient times in Fira as the time and elements did not spare the city. But restored from the ruins cathedrals and houses delight the eye with their unparalleled Cycladic style. This is the style in which the city is built and reconstructed. It is characterized by a combination of blue and white. Cycladic style is lightness of constructions and bright colors, an unusual combination of stone walls and green plantings.
The Cathedral of the Meeting of the Lord rises with its snow-white dome and walls, created as if from the clouds, above the entire city. It strikes with lightness and majesty. It was built in the middle of the last century as a symbol of Fira, reborn after the earthquake.
Another important religious landmark of Fira is the Catholic Cathedral.
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, rebuilt in 1970, and its clock tower are considered to be a symbol of the unbreakable spirit of the Santorini people and the inhabitants of Fira.
Although most of the inhabitants of the island are Orthodox, Fira has its own small Greek Catholic community.
For lovers of antiquity there are a lot of interesting objects. In the city itself there is an excellent archaeological museum, which contains unique artifacts found during excavations all over the island. There are sculptures, ceramics and mosaics from the times when Homer lived and the most famous myths and legends were created. There is also the Museum of Prehistoric Times of Fira, which is also full of unusual finds that archaeologists have been able to find during excavations in the city and surrounding areas.
In 25 minutes from Fira lies the lost in time city of Akrotiri, repeating the fate of Italian Pompeii. Like Pompeii, it was studded with volcanic ash and has preserved the entire quarters of the ancient Greek polis intact until today.
Fira has no beaches of its own. This is not surprising - the city is placed on a very beautiful cliff, which descends down near the old port. But this doesn't prevent Fira to be the tourist capital not only of Santorini, but also of the whole of Greece. For every square meter of the city - there are dozens of stores and shops, micro-hotels and fashionable hotels. There are also private pensions, small suburban villas, which are popular with experienced tourists.
In Old Port, small cruise ships constantly sail, which can take vacationers on a trip to the volcanic island of Nea and Palea Kameni, as well as to nearby islands and the open sea.
Fira is a wonderful corner of Greece, which combines great nature, the latest infrastructure and interesting excursion routes.
Fira is located at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level. The population of the island is not more than 1.5 thousand people. However, during the holiday season the city's population grows several times due to the arrival of tourists and vacationers. The modern city of Fira is somewhat apart from the ancient Fira.
The easiest way to Fira is by air. The airport of Santorini, which is located a dozen kilometers from Fira accepts direct flights from major cities in the world: London, Rome, Barcelona, Paris, Cologne, Geneva, Bucharest and others. Direct flights to major cities in Greece - Athens, Thessaloniki.
The ferry service from Crete to the port of Heraklion is about 60-70 euros.
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