Gialos port, the old Port of Fira

Gialos, the old port of Fira in Santorini: Just below the town of Fira, the capital of Santorini, there is the port of Gialos, commonly known as the old port of Fira. Till a few decades ago, this was the main commercial port of the island. When Santorini started to develop in tourism, this port became a tourist port and the main commercial port was transfer to the location Athinios, where it is found until today.

Presently, the port of Gialos does not receive commercial ferries. It works mostly in summer and serves only the many cruise ships that arrive on the island, the excursion boats to volcano and Thirassia and few fishing boats.

The downhill location of this port makes it tiring to get up and down Fira. This is why the most common way is to take the cable car from the old port up to the town of Fira. This cable car is also very useful for people with special needs. For a more traditional way, someone could use the stairs. Walking the route is about 20 min uphill.