Greece Trip #27: Santorini: Picturesque Oia Town, Cave Houses: Why White & Blue? Tourist Chaos

In today's blog, we visited the town of Oia on the island of Santorini. This is a small picturesque town that is known for it's white buildings with blue roofs. In today's blog, you'll read about the Santorini "Cave Houses," and why they are white and blue, plus some tourist chaos!   

(Photo: Houses and buildings in Oia, looking down to the Aegean Sea. Credit: RG)
(Photo: Tom peering around a wall to check for large tourist groups!)

WHAT IS OIA? Oia, pronounced Ia, is a coastal town on the northwestern tip of Santorini. The town has whitewashed houses carved into the rugged clifftops, and overlooks a vast caldera filled with water. In a 19th-century mansion, the Naval Maritime Museum has exhibits on local seafaring history, including old figureheads, sailors’ chests and models of old ships.

Note to travelers: It's also the most expensive town to stay in on the entire island. 

"FAMOUS SUNSETS?" - Search the Internet and you'll read that Oia is known for its buildings and "fantastic sunsets." We didn't see any in the 3 days we were on Santorini. 

WHY NO SPECTACULAR SUNSETS? The continual breezes over the ocean stir up the salt in the Aegean and make sunsets appear fuzzy. Honestly, we've seen better sunsets here in Maryland. 

WHAT ARE THE "CAVE HOUSES OF OIA?" Santorini Cave Houses or Yposkafa, which translates to “dug into a rock,” are underground buildings once used as homes, churches, canaves, and warehouses. They are famous both for their cubic form and their white color which reflects the light.

(Photo: Cave Houses of Oia. Credit: R.G.)

WHY ARE THE HOUSES WHITE? 

The white color reflects the biggest part of the dazzling light, preventing the houses from getting warm and that was a basic goal of the traditional architecture. 

WHY ARE CHURCH DOMES BLUE? Blue is a significant color for the Greek people as it reflects the color of the sea, sky and everyday life. The blue used in Greek island houses was made from a mixture of limestone and a cleaning product called “loulaki.” Loulaki was a kind of blue talcum powder most islanders had readily available at home. Therefore, blue paint was a very easy color for them to make.

CLEVER BOOKSTORE DESIGN - I love book stores, and there was one in the entire town. The outside of the store was cleverly painted to look like someone's living room wall with a book case.   (Photo: Bookstore with wall mural in Oia. Credit: RG)

TOURIST CHAOS - Since Oia is known to be the "prettiest town" on the entire island of Santorini, that's where all the tourists go. The day we were there, they did! In fact, we saw 5 massive cruise ships anchored off the island. The ships carried thousands of passengers, and they all tendered over to buses on the mainland that brought them to the town. Ship passengers quickly filled the narrow streets of Oia crowding the streets.  The massive crowds made walking through the town a slow process and it was a bit unnerving since we're in a pandemic. 

(Photo: Bougainvillea flowers draped over a wall in the town of Oia. Credit: RG) 

NEXT: Oia Highlights: A Special dog, Meaning of the "Blue Eye"