Collector Dimitris Tsitouras, together with the Archive of Santorinian Studies have recently published a bilingual collection of 400 post cards depicting the island of Santorini as seen and photographed prior to the devastating earthquake of 1956: Santorini as seen on postcards up to 1956.
"Following detailed verification and study, this collection contains 350 authentic postcards. To ensure the most complete possible depiction of the island, I borrowed a few cards from friends and organisations, thereby increasing the total number of postcards in this book to 400," said Tsitouras.
On July 9, 1956, the Aegean was shaken by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale, the largest one to strike Greece in the 20th century, causing 53 deaths. The epicenter was near Amorgos island and the magnitude was strong enough to generate a tsunami with run-up values of 30, 20, and 10 metres, the highest reported in the 20th century over the whole Mediterranean Basin. The earthquake caused widespread damage throughout the island of Santorini and many of the collapsed buildings were replaced by new ones, including the Archaeological Museum of Thera (Santorini).
Source: Greek News Agenda