The Venetian lighthouse at Akrotiri, from the water
Built in 1892 by a French company, dark through the Second World War, recommissioned in 1945, and run by the Hellenic Navy today. One white flash every ten seconds.
€100 per person · 10:00 - 15:00 · Shared seats
The Akrotiri lighthouse stands on Santorini's south-western tip, where the open Aegean meets the caldera entrance. It was built in 1892 by a French company and is one of the oldest lighthouses in Greece, run today by the Hellenic Navy. It is not Venetian, despite the name everyone uses.
Every boat working between the south coast and the caldera turns here. It is the hinge of the day: coloured beaches behind you, volcano ahead.
Stop 4 of 7 on the Semi-private day cruise · the boat is here around 12:10
The corner of the island
This is where the south coast ends and the caldera begins.
The peninsula narrows, the cliffs step down, and the land runs out at a low point with a whitewashed house on it and a short tower above. Going one way the light is the last thing on the outside of the island. Going the other, it is the door.
There is nothing to swim to and no cove to anchor in. The lighthouse is a hinge in the day rather than a stop, which is why nobody sits down for it.
Rounding the corner, in order
Running west to east, from the south coast into the caldera. Coming the other way the list plays backwards.
| What comes into view | What it is |
|---|---|
| The headland | The Akrotiri peninsula narrowing to a bare point. The outer corner of Santorini. |
| The keeper's house | A low whitewashed building on the point, the former keeper's quarters. |
| The tower | Reported at about 10 m above the house. Not open to the public, and no published arrangement says otherwise. |
| Open sea | Water to the south and west with nothing in it. This is the exposed side of the island. |
| The caldera mouth | The south-western gap in the rim opens up. It is one of two channels boats use to get in and out. |
| Aspronisi | The small white islet across the gap, between Cape Akrotiri and Thirasia. Dark lava at the base, pale eruption layers above. |
| Nea Kameni | Ahead in the middle of the basin: the young volcanic island, black lava, no colour in it at all. |
| The rim wall | Cliffs up to about 300 m to starboard, with Fira and Imerovigli on the top edge of them. |
The caldera is about 12 km by 7 km and 385 m deep at most, which is why boats work its edges rather than anchor in the middle of it.
It is not Venetian, and we would rather say so
The name in common use is the Venetian lighthouse, and we keep it because that is what people search for. The building itself is not Venetian.
It was put up in 1892 by a French company — sources name La Société Française des Phares — as Greece's maritime safety network went up. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in Greece. Not the oldest: no source we found ranks it, so neither will we.
It went dark during the Second World War and was recommissioned by the Greek Navy in 1945. The Hellenic Navy Lighthouse Service runs it today, and it is protected under Greek antiquities law as a modern monument.
Santorini's genuinely Venetian remains are elsewhere: the castle rock at Skaros above Imerovigli, and the windmills at Oia. Most operator pages repeat the Venetian claim about this building. It costs nothing to get it right.
Secondary sources give the tower as about 10 m, the original machinery replaced with an electric system in 1983, full automation by 1988, a characteristic of one white flash every ten seconds, and a range of 24 nautical miles. Those figures are not in the encyclopaedic sources, so treat them as reported rather than certain.
The lighthouse is not open to the public, and we have found no published visiting arrangement.
Which cruises round it
All five catamaran cruises turn this corner, because it is the only way between the south coast and the caldera. On the semi-private day cruise you pass it in the early afternoon, after Mesa Pigadia and before the hot springs.
The semi-private sunset cruise rounds it later, with the light behind the tower rather than on it. The private day, private sunset and full-day private cruises all take the same corner, and the full day carries on past Aspronisi as well.
A RIB tour covers the turn at about 20 knots instead of 12, if the point is reach rather than lunch.
Round the corner with us
Send the date and the number of guests. We answer the same day, and we will tell you what the wind usually does on that coast in your month.
Call the harbour office+30 698 977 1888
Common questions
What is the lighthouse at Akrotiri?
The lighthouse on Santorini's south-western tip, built by a French company in 1892 and among the oldest in Greece. It stopped during the Second World War and was recommissioned in 1945. The Hellenic Navy runs it now, and boats rounding the headland pass directly beneath it.
Is the Akrotiri lighthouse really Venetian?
No, and this is the one correction worth making. The structure dates from 1892 and was built by a French company, then run by the Greek Navy from 1945. The Venetian association on Santorini belongs to Skaros Castle and the Oia windmills, not to this building.
Can you visit the Akrotiri lighthouse?
You can reach the headland, but the lighthouse is not open to the public and we have found no published arrangement that changes that. From a boat you see the tower, the keeper's house and the bare point they stand on, which is the whole of what there is to see.
Is it the oldest lighthouse in Greece?
It is one of the oldest, and that is as far as the sources go. None of them publishes a ranking, so a claim that it is the single oldest is not supported. What is supported is 1892, French construction, and continuous Hellenic Navy operation since 1945.
Santorini Boat Tour - Water Taxi is a catamaran cruise and water taxi operator based in Fira, Santorini.
Updated August 2026