Kamari beach
Long black-sand beach beneath a hilltop ridge once garrisoned as a Ptolemaic naval base.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Kamari beach in Santorini opens with a puzzle: why a Ptolemaic pharaoh ruling from Egypt would station his entire Aegean war fleet on this stretch of black sand. It goes back to the third century BC, when the harbor below Ancient Thera became a forward naval base, with warships hauled ashore for repair and a hilltop city rebuilt on a strict grid for officers and marines. You'll hear about the barracks along the shore, the courtyard gymnasium where marines drilled, and the several hundred soldiers whose names survive on hillside inscriptions. It's a story of a beach that once worked like a naval yard, all ropes, pitch and shouted orders.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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