Hooked on the blue domes

Where is it??

Oia walk
The main pedestrian path in Oia earlier in the morning

We were walking up and the pedestrian path in Oia (pronounced ee-uh) looking for it. We’ve seen it on posters, travel books and postcards. Yup, in fact there it is on a postcard right in front of us. And yet we can’t seem to see it anywhere.

santorini donkeys
Trail of donkeys coming up the path which we all had to make way for. The herder was at the back so its cute that they know how to find their way home..

As you might have guessed, we were looking for the blue domed churches that is iconic of Santorini

Ever seeing it years ago, we can’t picture Santorini as anything else. (Now that we are here, we do know better though)

Oia skyline
Village of Oia facing East, almost in the direction of Fira (the main town in Santorini)

In truth, there is a blue domed church that tops the skyline in Oia. You can’t miss it and and we thought that was what we were looking for. But it was not.

With 250 churches in Santorini, (something like 1 for every 52 residents) we didn’t think it was that hard.

Oia 3
Village of Oia from our hotel. You can easily spot a blue domed church which we thought was what we were looking for.

Failing to do our homework, it took us sometime before we eventually realised hat you have to go into the side streets to look for these churches. They are in fact dotted along the cliff face among residential homes.

So, you have to walk along sometimes narrow streets and steps to get there. Do not be surprised to find crowds (and wedding parties) queuing up to get that shot. But when Peter first found the churches, he was surprised to find that there weren’t many people around at all.

Santorini Oia 2
The famous blue domed churches of Oia. Later in the evening, there was a big wedding party here that took endless shots. You must have the patience of a saint if you are a local resident here.

Now if you are really lost and are happy to ask for directions, the churches you are looking for are “Agios Spyridonas” – St Spyridonas church and “Anastesos” church that means resurrection of Christ. Both are open to the public.

I know we’ve all seen photos of Santorini. But I just can’t help sharing more.

Santorini Oia

Oia 2Bells

Oia in colour
There actually is more colour to Oia than I expected. Its not all white!
Oia walk 2
Just in case you were wondering where are the crowds, I included this shot. It was a brief moment when there was no one ahead of us.And it was also before a few busloads from a cruise ship arrived.

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