The village lies north of the archaeological excavations. Its castle was known to have resisted the turquoise attacks until 1617 when it was occupied by the Ottomans and became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Built in the most distant part of the island, Akrotiri is proud of its famous Red Beach and white beach attracting lots of tourists every year .The old churches of Agia Triada and Sotiros Ipapandi are worth seeing, while the road from this point leads to the old beacon (Faros).
Akrotiri has a lighthouse radiating fantastic colors in the night. The 3500 years old village of Akrotiri is situated at the southern end of the island about 12 kilometres from Fira , near the Southwest cape after which it was named, and built on a hill crowned by the Goulas the fortified residence of the local ruler during the Venetian occupation (1024-1971).
One of the greatest and most cosmopolitan harbours of the Mediterranean during the first half of the second millennium, Akrotiri was buried under a thick mantle of ash when the volcano erupted in about 1600 BC .The tidal wave caused by the eruption struck the north coast of Crete and swept away the palace of Knossos .It was perhaps this which marked the end of minoan civilisation.
Just 900 meters after the village of Akrotiri is Santorini’s most important archaeological site .The excavations in that area brought up an acropolis while many outstanding archaeological finds can be seen at the Archaeological Museum of Santorini.