OVERVIEW

KALLISTI

The island’s original name of KALLISTI, meaning “most beautiful”, was given to it by the Minoans of Crete. Befitting the name Kallisti.

Mythology tells us that on their homeward journey, Euphemos, the son of the god Poseidon, received a clod of white soil as a gift from Triton. After leaving Anafi, he received a warning in the form of a clap of thunder and threw the soil into the sea. From this was formed the island of Kalliste, the most fair, which was later called Thera.
But according to Herodotus, the Phoenicians were so enthralled by the beauty of Santorini that they settled there and gave it the name ‘Kalliste’ or ‘The Fair One’.