The Turkish Rule: 1580-1820

In 1580, following the takeover of the islands by the Ottomans, the southern Cyclades islands sent emissaries to Turkey to ask for favorable terms of rule for the islands. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Murad III, granted the islands privileges that resulted in much lighter conditions of occupation than in mainland Greece. As a result, the Ottomans never settled on the island, and largely left the small communities to their own devices (Doumas 1995, 33). Furthermore, no feudal Turkish lord ever settled on the island, and janissaries were never stationed on Santorini (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 41). Under the Ottoman Empire, feudalism evolved into self-rule and less direct involvement in the affairs of the islands by the Turks. Thus, the entirety of the winemaking and trade process was in the hands of the locals, not the Turks or Venetians. These improved economic privileges and the dramatic decline in pirate raids after the Turkish occupation combined to expand trade, contacts with the outside world, and the vitality of the island. The locals moved the capital of the island to Fira, and the Venetian capital of Skaros was eventually abandoned due to its poor accessibility.

After the weakening and destruction of the feudal system of Santorini in the 16^th century, locals were able to purchase their own agricultural lands. Upon this newly acquired land, the locals primarily grew grapes, barley, and tomatoes. The grapes were processed into a wine of very high quality, as the wine produced was high in alcoholic content, and the varieties were only grown on Santorini. From the 17^th century on, Santorini grapes were processed into a wine of very high quality for the tastes of the time; the quality was due to the excellent climate and volcanic soil of the island in which grapes grow with very little water. A number of accounts from the 17^th century mention that Santorini wine “is of good quality, it sells at a higher price than the wine of Naxos or Paros… the wine is sold directly to Constantinople, Candia, Smyrna, and Chios” (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 46). The harsh landscape of Santorini was terraced to grow these agricultural goods, especially grapes for wine production. Francois Richard, a French traveler who visited Santorini in the 17^th century, stated in his accounts, “There is no fruit, but in summer they have many grapes… the only saleable product which the earth produced was wine” (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 44). Hence, it is because of the high prices and high quality of wine, that people emigrated to Santorini to enter the wine trade.

By the mid 17^th century the population of Santorini had reached 7,000 people; a more than 800% increase in less than a century (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 42). The entirety of population was in some way tied to wine production and trade, as the Francois Richard notes, “It cannot be denied that this island is poor. It produces no corn to nourish its inhabitants apart from barley, nor green herbs in any variety to feed its animals, nor is it watered by any brook or spring… Their common food is rusk, they eat vegetables and fava, and they very rarely taste meat” (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 45). Thus, life was hard, no other agricultural goods were grown other than for basic sustenance — and the harsh nature of the land seems to barely provide sustenance for any crop but the vine and the bean. The climate and the work conditions of cultivating this wine were so demanding and harsh, a European observer commented that Santorinian’s were the hardest working people he had ever encountered (The Santorini of Santorini 1995, 44).

By the 18^th century the cultivation of grapes had become the preeminent economic and even cultural activity on the island, in 1731 6,000 stremmas of grapes were being cultivated (Santorini 2001, 479). The special relationship of agriculture and the environment is embodied in Santorinian’s innovative use of a variety of techniques to deal with their harsh unforgiving climate and landscape: ampelies or baskets were devised to protect vines from the winds and sand, and the use of canavas built into the caves, to process and store the wine (The Santorini of Santorini 1995). These process and techniques that began their development in the 18^th century to increase the production of grapes, are only found on Santorini, and are a testament to ingenuity of the people of Santorini.

The new and innovative methods of cultivating and picking grapes in Santorini, quickly lead to an increase in grape production in the 19^th century. One can ascertain the explosion of viniculture as the number of stremmas of grapes cultivated, in 1874 amounted to 48,000 stremmas (Santorini 2001, 479). The yield of the vineyards also experienced a similar explosion; for example in 1731 600,000 kilos of grapes were cultivated, in 1835 the number stood at 2,160,000, and doubled again by 1874 with a 4,800,000 kilo yield (Santorini 2001, 479). The explosion of vineyards was in response to the local’s development of new and better ways to harvest grapes in the harsh climate of Santorini, because the Vinsanto wine of Santorini was renowned and thus very expensive throughout the European world in the 17^th and 18^th century (The Santorini of Santorini 1995, 48). Residents thus had the incentive to work hard, and to use innovative was of increasing production, as the wine they produced was a highly marketable commodity. Economically, wine became of such importance that it was reported, “Santorini contributed 43% of the total tax the Cyclades had to pay on wine and alcoholic drinks produced” (Santorini Society and Shelter, 49).

By the later half of the 18^th century, vineyards covered the entire island. The reason for this change is largely due to the changing geo-political situation Santorini found itself in. The first Russo-Turkish war of (1768-1774) ended with the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardji (1774) that opened up the trade of the Black Sea — to Russia (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 47). Under the terms of the treaty, majority Orthodox populations under Turkish rule sailed freely under the Russian flag (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 47). This provision made shipping, and shipping Santorini wine a very attractive and profitable profession. Its effects were immediate; every stremma of the harsh landscape of Santorini was terraced to grow vines wine production (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 47). The population according to a 1791 publication, stood at well over 10,000 inhabitants; all living on a land that did not have the water or food stuffs to adequately support such a population (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 47). The French, Swedish, and Russians all quickly established consulates on Santorini to take part in the wine trade (Monioudi-Gavala 1997). The French consulate reported that a huge amount of wine was exported in the late 18^th century 1,300 tons of wine (Kourakou-Dragona 1995, 49).

By the 19^th Century Santorini had the third largest merchant fleet in Greece. The size of the merchant marine fleet at the time of Greek Independence based in Santorini was recorded at 615 ships (Santorini Society and Shelter, 49). The merchant fleet shipped all 7,000 tons of the wine that Santorini produced in an average year in the 19^th Century (Santorini Society and Shelter, 49). Large amounts of this wine went to Russia, where Vinsanto was the official chalice wine of the Russian Orthodox Church. Merchant boats even sailed as far as America, where it was noted that three shipments of wine were carried out (Santorini Society and Shelter, 49). Thus, the Santorini shipping industry was international in scope, and not just confined to the Aegean.

By 1842 Santorini boasted a fleet of 40 brigs, 7-8 schooners, and 100 other sailing crews, with a 1,500 man crew based in Oia (Santorini Society and Shelter, 49). This large important shipping industry anchored itself in Oia, a town that was built by the captains and sailors of the ships. The unique architecture of Oia, owes its development to those adventurous and enterprising members of the Oia shipping industry of the past.

Thus it can be concluded that from the 16^th to the 19^th century, with new innovative methods unique to Santorini, wine emerged as the primary export product of Santorini, a product that spawned a healthy shipping industry in Oia that grew into an international economic force.

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