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SANTORINI, GREECE – On the island of Santorini you will find more churches than houses, more donkeys than people, and more wine than water – or so they say.

It’s very small – just 70 square kilometers, or less than a tenth of the area of the city of Kyiv. Yet it’s one of the finest and mysterious islands of the Aegean Sea.

Plato refers to the island as a lonely remnant of an ancient civilization which disappeared without a trace because of a natural cataclysm. Santorini could have been the lost paradise, the legendary Atlantis.

Legends aside, the modern-day Santorini is one of the most attractive Greek islands, its postcard image – if you wish. Its dinky white houses overhang the sea, perching on steep black slopes of a volcanic funnel.

The funnel was formed in 1,500 B.C. after an eruption, and then the caldera was flooded by the sea, forming a crescent island we know now. The caldera’s diameter is 35 kilometers, and the island is so small that you can see all its towns in just a day or two. You can travel between them by squad bike or scooter, like the locals do.

Villages are snuggling really close to each other, and you certainly won’t need any transport once you get there.

Fira, the island’s capital, has the most central location possible, just opposite Nea Kameni – an active and simmering volcanic crater sticking 260 meters above the sea. To get up to the top of the volcano, you can walk 588 steps, ride a donkey for 5 euros or travel by cable car for 4 euros.

The towns all over the island are pleasant to roam. All of them are like unique gems in an original necklace.

Oia, the most northern point of the island, bears the well-justified name that in ancient dialect means remote or isolated. Oia is the most modern town on the island and is famous for its sunset views. On summer nights, up to 6,000 people flock there to soak up the beauty of dusk.

Pyrgos is a unique small town with the number of permanent residents below 500. Yet the town has an amazing 40 churches and chapels, or roughly one per 12 residents.

Akrotiri is a real open-air museum: two- and three-storied buildings, shops and workshops of craftsmen are scattered all over. The city was buried under several layers of lava and volcanic ashes a long time ago. Magnificent frescos found inside the ruined houses were transported and are now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Perissa is a tourist magnet because of its long wide beach of black volcanic sand.

Preparing to a trip to Santorini, I read tons of guidebooks and numerous online responses by the tourists. Many of them contained the phrase I liked very much: “Santorini has more churches than houses, more donkeys than people, more wine than water.”

So, I was curious to find out how close it is to the truth.

The easiest place to start with is water. The island has no fresh water sources of its own, and storage of water historically was a problem as well. Now all houses have water supply.

The water in pipes is desalinated. For cooking, people ship water in and rain water is collected for household needs all winter. But wine is truly the island’s pride that compensates for all troubles with water. The locals are renowned for their wine making skills.

Grapes are grown with great pain. You won’t find a typical vineyard here as strong winds blow a thin lawyer of deadly volcanic ash over the plants. Each vine producing two or three bunches of grapes lies in a hole dug up in the ground, protected by a wattle.

Curiously, the local grapes have no fear of mold, fungi and other diseases affecting European vines. The island has more than 20 vineyards, each producing a whole range of wines. The most popular varieties are Nihteri, Asyrtiko-Nihteri and Vinsanto.

The local legend goes that Hera, the wife of Zeus, gave him Vinsanto to tame his uneasy temper. These days, this wine is supplied to the Pope.

Once the status of water and wine is cleared, we can move on to donkeys and people. Donkeys really are very popular and abundant on Santorini. Originally they were used to carry heavy loads. To this day they remain the only way of transport that can squeeze into the narrow and curved streets where cars can’t go.

Donkeys are popular for taking tourists up and down the hills. They do very well on the zigzag stairs connecting the capital Fira and its old port.

They are called Donkey Taxis, the sign will tell you. The living taxis are accompanied by the elderly Greeks in dark blue sateen caps that come to Fira from the nearby villages along with the herd.

The statement that there are more churches than houses also has plenty of ground. This tiny scrap of land has more than 600 churches that belong to various confessions. The churches were built by the sailors who were saved from death in the sea after shipwrecks as Santorini used to have a large fleet.

There were also plenty of family chapels where women prayed for the safe return of their men.

Santorini is not a good place for lonely travelers. It is an island of romance and lovers, as well as a place of unforgettable impressions and fascinating emotions.

Iuliia Panchuk is the former marketing and communications manager of the Kyiv Post.