Oia Village or Ia is part of the municipality of Santorini. The population was 1,545 inhabitants at the 2011 census, and the land area is 19.449 km2.
Oia Village was previously known as Apano Meria “upper side”, a name which still occurs locally as Pano Meria. The inhabitants are stil called Apanomerites. The Ancient Greek Oia was one of the two harbours of ancient Thira and was located in the southeast of the island, where Kamari is now.
It reached the peak of prosperity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its economic prosperity was based on its merchant fleet, which plied trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially from Alexandria to Russia. The two-story captains’ houses built on the highest part of the village are a reminder of the village’s former affluence. The 1956 earthquake destroyed part of the town.
Louise Candlish’s 2007 novel Since I Don’t Have You is set in Oia and London.
Oia Village was the center of the story in the 1982 film Summer Lovers. The opening sequences of the film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, starring Angelina Jolie, featured Oia Village. In and around Ammoudi, the old fishing port below Oia, they shot the jet ski chase scenes.
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