Messaria

It is just 3.5 km away from Fira. Written sources mention the existence of Messaria as early as the 17th century. It belongs to the type of excavated settlements following the valley bottom expanding to the wider area.

In the late 19th century, here was the hub of the industrial development in Santorini exhibiting the Markezinis knitting factory, Venetsanos’ distillery, Nomikos’ raki house.
In 1889, Antonis Markezinis brought to Messaria two sock machines which he very quickly multiplied, and in 1912 his factory evolved very fast making him the Greek army supplier. He also supplied machines to many women of the island for working at home. In 1933 he established a factory in Athens and a few years later he shut down the one in Santorini.

Venetsanos’ kanava had 3 vaults in array. Nomikos’ raki house followed the form of a mall but the older kanava was a traditional substructure of a greater scale.
A characteristic in Messaria was that the so called official architecture occupied a distinctive area in the center of the village. There was Aghios (St) Dimitrios church and a number of mansions. The church must have been built prior to 1896, date that it was renovated. The facades of the buildings were not covered in paint, the black stones were obvious and the mortar of the joint-parts was a darker shade of white.
Some of the old houses and underground rock-hewn buildings still survive. You will notice the mansions of Markezinis, Saliveros and Georgios Emmanuel Argyros. The Argyros mansion belonged to the local landowner and wine merchant Argyros and is considered one of the most noteworthy contemporary monuments of Santorini.