Imerovigli

This guide to Imerovigli on Santorini's caldera rim follows the six-hundred-meter trail down toward Skaros Rock, where two hundred houses once stood on a ledge barely reachable by rope and iron ring. It traces the village's name back to imera and vigla, day and watch, from the sentries who once scanned these waters for pirate sails. You'll hear how Byzantine and then Venetian rulers turned Skaros into Santorini's fortified capital, crossed only by a wooden bridge that could be pulled up at the first sign of trouble. The hike itself runs past a weathered rope scramble that most walkers choose to skip, looping the base instead.