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2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of an island he called Atlantis...

..that was swallowed up by the sea in a single day and night.

Vanishing without a trace.

Ever since, people have wondered where this mysterious island might have been,

or whether it was all just a myth.

New research suggests that

Plato's story was based on real events.

Recent underwater explorations off the Greek island of Santorini

have revealed deposits from a massive volcanic eruption.

One of the greatest in human history.

And on Santorini itself, archaeologists have uncovered an ancient city.

A lost world buried by the catastrophe.

Based on the latest scientific research,

this is the story

of an incredible island,

the people that lived there...

..and the extraordinary last days that inspired the legend of Atlantis.

3,500 years ago, the Greek islands were home to a powerful and advanced Bronze Age civilisation...

..one that rivalled the Egypt of the Pharaohs.

These were the Minoans.

CHEERING

BULL SNORTS

CHEERING

BULL SNORTS

CHEERING

BULL ROARS

BULL ROARS

CHEERING

CHEERING

WOMAN SINGS A HAUNTING MELODY

In this world, powerful priestesses presided over strange and dangerous rituals.

He's handsome, isn't he?

Did you choose him for you mother, or for me?

My son is the finest athlete in the whole of Thera.

We're all terribly impressed, Rusa.

CHEERING

Plato wrote of great bulls roaming the temples of Atlantis.

And the bull was certainly central to Minoan culture.

Hear me great Poseidon, creator of the earth and sea. Lend me the courage

of our forefathers and accept this wine as an offering.

EARTH RUMBLES

So important was the bull that it gave birth to the legend of the man-killing minotaur.

Half human, half beast.

BULL ROARS

Yishharu, you OK?

JEERING

You've shamed us all!

Go home!

Bull leaping is thought to have been an important initiation rite for young Minoan men.

And possibly even women.

A spectacle performed all over Crete in temple palaces like this one at Knossos,

a massive complex of over 1,300 rooms.

This was the cradle of Western civilisation.

Where's Yishharu?

I was thinking I might leave him here.

Save us all the embarrassment.He's a boy.

The wife creates the man.

Come on.

Men, pull. Pull.

The Minoans dominated the Mediterranean for over 1,000 years.

Until an island 70 miles north of Crete blew itself apart.

The island of Thera, known today as Santorini.

Reconstructions of Thera show it consisted of

circular belts of sea and land, just as Plato described Atlantis.

Because the island was the top of a gigantic volcano

that erupts on a cataclysmic scale roughly every 17,000 years.

By 1620 BC,

a pool of molten rock, large enough to bury a city the size of London

had filled the magma chamber seven miles beneath the island.

When did this start?Two days ago, master.

Two days?

You, pass me some fish. Can I have two?

Where are you going with those?

Poseidon's island.

I've got an offering to make.You have a feast to attend.I won't be late.

Thera's wealth was built on its mastery of the sea.

Its fleet dominated the trade network of the Bronze Age world.

The islanders grew rich, buying and selling goods from Africa and Asia and other parts of Europe.

Their streets were lined with multi-storey houses, decorated with elaborate wall paintings.

They built the world's first indoor toilets, connected

to an underground sewage system - a luxury most Europeans would not enjoy for another 2,000 years.

Presiding over this prosperous society was the priesthood.

My son's wife, Pinaruti.

Welcome.

I've brought you oil, to honour your island goddess.

That's for the high priestess, not for me.

Come, I'll take you to her.

High priestess? Yishharu's wife.

Oil from the fields of sacred Mount Juktas to honour your island goddess.

Come with me.

Minoan women were remarkably independent and influential.

The most influential of all were the priestesses.

Their role was to communicate with the gods,

often through elaborate rituals,

in which saffron seems to have been used as a hallucinogenic.

Querasia welcomes you to Thera, Pinaruti.

And we welcome you in her name.

Join us to give thanks for your safe arrival here.

Don't forget your offering.

Like other ancient civilisations, the Minoans believed that all things were inhabited by gods.

There were gods for every natural phenomenon, from childbirth

to earthquakes, to stormy seas, to mountain peaks.

These gods weren't all seen as benign and merciful, but as temperamental and sometimes vindictive.

Offerings were made by those seeking favour from the gods.

And it was through ritual ceremonies that the priesthood sought clarity on the gods' desires.

But in 1620 BC, the Minoans' complex belief system was

about to be blown apart by geological forces beyond their understanding.

PINARUTI GROANS

It's OK, Pinaruti.

One of the first signs that the volcano was stirring would have been

hydrothermal explosions triggered by superheated ground water.

You saw something.

What was it? It was Yishharu.

He was in danger.

What kind of danger?

The sacrificial axe was dripping in blood.

His blood.

Why would I see something like that?

Sometimes our visions don't come from the gods, but from our own fears.

This place is strange to you.

And perhaps you're unsure of your husband.

Come.

We have a celebration to prepare for.

We're here to welcome my son's new wife, Pinaruti.

She's the daughter of my loyal business companion, Piteri.

She is a Cretan, but let's not hold that against her.

Ah, good of you to join us, Yishharu.

Welcome.

ALL: Welcome. Welcome.

Now, I've seen many things in this world.

Dolphins in the Straits of Hazim.

I've chased dolphins across the Straits of Hazim.

I've loaded my ships with treasures from Egypt.

I've fought pirates off the shores of Elias.

But none of it compares to the magnificence of this beautiful island.

But none of it, none it compares to the magnificence of this island.

An island I like to believe I've played a small part in making great.

Sorry I was late.

Without Cretan middlemen...

Did you make your offering?

Something happened at the sanctuary.

The ground cracked. There was this fountain of boiling water.

I don't know where it came from.

It was as if the whole island was... Was being torn apart.

At the bull leaping, you said that the ground shook.

You should tell your father.

I had hoped that my only son would follow in my wake and take to the seas.

Until now he's put his blood and sweat into bulls, and temple priestesses.

CHUCKLING

Here's hoping that his wife can make a better man of him.

He's drunk, let's go.

We can't. This is in our honour.You think this is for us?

My advice to anyone who marries is this.

Enjoy every day,

because you never know when the gods will decide to take away what is most precious to you.

They've blessed you, Rusa.

You tell us that they want us to do this, do that.

We do it because you say so. This is intolerable.

They don't speak to you.

DOG BARKS

SCREAMING

Yishharu!

Yishharu!

Get down!

Where's Yishharu? I don't know.

One of the Minoans' most powerful gods was the Earth Shaker.

And for good reason.

Structural damage uncovered on Thera shows that around 1620 BC

they were exposed to an enormous earthquake.

Measuring more than seven on the Richter scale.

Their buildings were designed to withstand minor tremors and quakes.

Thick timber frames had been used to give them extra strength.

Until finally, this quake, strong enough to shatter these stone steps,

set in motion an irreversible chain of events for the people of Thera.

Stay still.

Hey, little lady.

Has your husband left you already?

You should try the temple.

He used to find his peace there.

HE GRUNTS

Quick - over here.

Is he all right?

Looks like he's alive.

Hold on, there's someone else.

Look, I only went to the temple to get away from my father.

I didn't know she'd be there.

I don't want your excuses. Everyone knows what you've been doing with that woman.

Even your father jokes about it.

You've humiliated me, Yishharu.

I won't stand for it.

As soon as I knew she was there, I told her...

You told her it was over.

I told her that... It was a goodbye.

Yeah, it was goodbye.

We need to restore normality as soon as possible.

Get them back into their homes.It's too soon.

Their homes aren't safe yet.

The houses may be damaged, but most of them are still standing.

The houses have been weakened. We need to make them safe before the people return.

And expect people to leave everything behind for thieves to steal?

Anything of value can be safely stored.

In the basements or under the door frames where the buildings are strongest.

Then we seal up the doors.

And the people go where?

You expect them to camp in the streets?

I move them out of the city while we repair the buildings.

Priestess?

Enough lives have been lost.

We set up camps until the houses can be made safe.

And, Rusa,

the buildings are not all we have to repair.

You take care of the gods, priestess.

I'll get the town up and running.

Archaeological evidence reveals that the earthquake damage was so severe

that the Therans had to leave their homes.

Their precious possessions were discovered stored

beneath solid structures like wooden doorways and under beds.

And the entrances to their houses were found sealed.

Unlike Pompeii, no human remains have been found in the town,

suggesting the islanders moved to temporary camps, imagining they'd be coming home soon.

You're as pious as a priestess, Pinaruti.

There are others on this island who could learn from your example.

Rusa?

He lost a wife.

And he blames the priestess for failing to placate the Goddess Eileithyia.

She died during childbirth?

They were only newly married.

Ever since, he's found it difficult to put his trust in us.

If we can't trust you, who can we trust?

For over 17,000 years, the magma chamber under Thera had been sealed.

But the earthquake had fractured the chamber...

Allowing magma to escape through vents, releasing sulphur and other poisonous gases.

Are you sure it's safeto be this close? It's fine.

But what's that smell?

It's like rotten eggs.

That's the smell of the water.

I believe it drives the bad spirits away.

We don't know why it smells.

Or why it's so lovely and hot.

Come in, it's great!

What's wrong?

Yishharu.

Yishharu, quick, get back.

The ocean... The ocean is turning!

My father won't believe it was a sign.

I just wish I was better at understanding the gods.

They're trying to tell us something. Your father's a powerfuland sensible man, Yishharu.

When he talks, everyone listens to him.

If you can just convince him that this is a warning from the gods.

My father's faith in the gods ended when they stole my mother.

Where are you going? To the temple.

Bansabira will know what the gods want.

EXPLOSION

Finally, pressure from rising magma

blasted out a plug of rock that had blocked the mouth of the volcano for thousands of years.

This was a pre-eruption.

Simply the volcano clearing its throat.

Previous generations would have witnessed small eruptions like this,

and seen them as signs from the gods.

Signs that the priesthood was expected to understand.

What do we do?

The Earth Shaker is speaking to us.

Just as he spoke to our forefathers.

We must respond as they did.

For the Minoans, there was no better way to appease unpredictable

and violent gods than to make an offering.

Preferably of blood.

Your father didn't seefit to join us. He's busy.

Is that so?

Our mayor is too busy to honour the gods!

MUTTERING

Their peak sanctuaries have been found littered with animal bones.

Goats, sheep, pigs,

even bulls.

ALL: Hail, Poseidon.

Poseidon, raging lord of the deep,

we offer you the sacred blood of bulls.

May it drown your anger, mighty dark-haired lord.

Let us live in stillness and peace once more.

Hail, Poseidon, ruler of the earth and seven seas.

The priesthood's power hinged on its ability to keep the gods in check.

But the forces unleashed beneath Thera were now unstoppable.

RUMBLING AND SCREAMING

From volcanic deposits, we know that the early stages of the eruption

covered the island with a sprinkling of light ash.

Enough to contaminate the water supply.

What are you doing? Are you trying to poison me?!

They're taking against Pinaruti.

I'm sure she means no harm.

This trouble began when SHE arrived here. You know that.

Rusa brought her here and we know the gods don't favour him.

Perhaps they're providing a way for both of us to get what we want.

Forgive me, priestess.

I think I know what Poseidon's asking for.

Speak.

I should have shared it earlier.

When Pinaruti told me about her vision...

Go on. She saw a sacrifice.

But it was not a bull.

It was a person.

Who?

It was her own blood that was spilt.

She was the sacrifice.

Perhaps her vision

is the gods' way of telling us that she's not welcome.

She's cursed.

Tell Yidini to gather the people.

I will speak to them and restore order.

What would make this eruption different from any other

the Therans had experienced was the interaction of two kinds of magma,

triggering a catastrophic chemical reaction.

This chemical reaction would thrust

an estimated 150 billion tons of magma to the surface.

Hail, priestess. Hail, priestess.

And transform this eruption into the greatest disaster the ancient world had ever seen.

High priestess, the people wait to hear you.

< People of Thera.

Everyone.

Friends and colleagues.

You must listen to me.

This is preposterous.

The blood of bulls is not enough.

There is nothing more we can offer.

The gods have given us enough warning.

My fleet will sail at sunset. We will leave the island

till it is safe to return.

There is only one authority we can trust on this island. The truth.

People of Thera,

in order to restore peace on our island,

Poseidon has asked for something more.

What are you going to offer him now? Lions? Elephants?

Until peace and calm can be restored,

those that want to leave the island may do so.

- You cannot stay here, surely? - You have to do your duty, Rusa.

And I have to do mine.

There will be another sacrifice.

This time I...

will undertake it on behalf of all of us.

RUMBLING

The sound of the eruption was heard as far away as Egypt.

A superheated column of gas, ash and rock blasted six miles into the stratosphere...

..forming a mushroom cloud similar to an atomic bomb.

This was a Plinian eruption, the most deadly of all volcanic events.

Everyone! We need to leave the island now.

To stay here is madness.

Everyone, follow me. To the ships.

Get your things and meet me at the harbour.

What now?

We do as we planned.

Bring me Pinaruti.

We need every inch of every ship.

OK, everybody. Cargo overboard.

Make space, come on.

Come on, move, move.

We're leaving the city with my father. You're free to go, Yishharu.

We're BOTH leaving. No!

Pinaruti must fulfil her destiny. The gods have demanded it.

Her destiny is with me.

Your vision, Pinaruti, spelled out your destiny.

We do not choose these things. The gods decide for us.

We must ensure it is fulfilled.

What vision?

What vision?!You said it wasn't clear.

That it wasn't the gods speaking, it was my own fears. And it wasn't me!

It's not what I saw.

What did you see?

Who did you see?

Who did you see?!

After them!

Just move up. There's enough room. We can get you all on board.

Yishharu, where are you?

It was Yishharu's blood she saw sacrificed.

May the gods forgive your deception, Ariad. I'm not sure I can.

We know what the gods have asked for. The vision must be fulfilled.

It wasn't clear enough.I don't think... Start thinking.

The gods are tearing Thera apart.

If you can't tell us why, if you can't stop it,

then what must the people think?

Where is your power, Bansabira, if you can't appease the gods?

They've demanded a life and have shown us who it must be.

Find him.

Keep going, come on.I'm slowing you down.

What are you doing?If they catch you, they'll kill you.

I'll get rid of them and comeback for you. What if you don't?

Then you must find my father and tell him what's happened?

I'm scared, Yishharu. I'm scared of losing you.

SHE SOBS

You think killing me will stop this, Bansabira?

The gods want us all dead!

In the first hours of the eruption,

the volcano would have ejected billions of tons

of magma into the sky.

Rapidly cooling, it fell as pumice.

THUDDING AND RATTLING

These small stones and rocks

filled with tiny bubbles of air, began to bury the island.

SCREAMING AND SHOUTING

One at a time! Don't push! Master, we've got to set sail!

We need to make for the ships. We should go now.

Look at him, Bansabira.

Even your own people don't believe in this.

Silence him.

Forgive me.

But it was ash, not pumice,

that posed the more immediate threat. Help! Help me!

Volcanic ash isn't like ordinary ash. It contains silicone.

Once inhaled,

it mixes with the moisture in the lungs to form a liquid cement.

Somebody, please help me.

Please help!

Help me, please!

It makes breathing difficult.

THEY GASP AND COUGH

Then impossible.

Rusa! Pinaruti!

Where's Yishharu? The priests came after us.

They wanted me as a sacrifice.He said he'd be back.SHE SOBS

Rusa, we've got to go! Take her to her father in Crete. No. No!

No, I don't want to go without him. Tie her up if you have to. No. No!

Rusa! Rusa! Let me go!

Let me go!

EXPLOSION

Halt! Out of my way!

As the crater widened, sea water poured into it.

On contact with the magma, the water exploded as steam,

triggering the next volcanic phase.

The violent reaction between water and magma

created a phreatomagmatic eruption.

It's estimated the sound pressure from this explosion

would have reached 300 decibels.

The sheer force ripped rocks from inside the crater,

catapulting them into the air like deadly missiles.

Lava bombs.

These burning chunks of magma can be the size of a small truck

and weigh up to eight tons.

HE GROANS

Turn back! Turn back!

Turn back.SHE SOBS

There's nothing to go back to.

Please, turn back. Please.SHE SOBS

With the crater widening,

the pressure forcing the column upwards started to drop.

Gas and rock spilled from the sides of the collapsing column.

Known as pyroclastic flows,

these superheated waves of gas and rock reached speeds

of up to 180 miles an hour,

and temperatures of 700 degrees Celsius.

You've taken all that's precious to me. Is this all you have left?!

As the pyroclastic flows hit the sea,

hot ash caused the water surface to boil,

propelling them along

at an even faster speed on superheated beds of steam.

Come on, come on, row!

Row, row, row, come on!

Come on, row!

The deadly impact of the eruption

extended far beyond the island of Thera.

Pyroclastic flows pushed volcanic debris out into the sea,

generating huge waves.

Tsunamis.

People on the nearby island of Crete might have seen the warning signs.

But had little time to react.

Travelling at 200 miles an hour, it would have taken

only 20 minutes for the first tsunami to reach Crete.

Experts estimate that by the time the waves hit the coastline,

they would have been over 60 feet high.

Run!

New research has revealed that a series of tsunamis ravaged towns

all along Crete's northern coastline for hours,

if not days after the eruption.

Killing an estimated 30,000 people.

It was a disaster on an unimaginable scale.

Three times larger than Krakatoa.

100 times larger than Mount St Helens.

And 40,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

The ash from the eruption plunged the Mediterranean

into weeks of darkness.

Global temperatures dipped, stunting plant growth as far away as Britain.

Minoan society was shaken to the core.

Archaeological evidence reveals that there was deep social unrest.

Towns and temple palaces were sacked and burnt.

Humans sacrificed.

Finally, a civilisation that had lasted for over 1300 years

was invaded and absorbed

by a warring Greek tribe called the Mycenaeans.

Stories of the disaster, however, were passed on, retold, embellished.

Many experts now believe that accounts of Thera's destruction

inspired Plato to write a morality tale about the rise

and fall of a great civilisation he called Atlantis.

He wrote, "The island consists of circular belts of sea

"and land enclosing one another.

"A seaway and harbour filled with vessels

"and merchants from all quarters.

"And the wealth they possessed

"was so immense, that the like had never been seen before.

"In the sacred precincts of Poseidon there were bulls at large,

"and the ten princes hunted after the bulls with staves and nooses.

"Then there occurred portentous earthquakes and floods,

"and one grievous day and night

"the island of Atlantis was swallowed up by the sea...

"..and vanished."

And so a great and wonderful world,

cut off in its prime by a disaster of cataclysmic proportions,

became the birthplace of one of the greatest legends of all time...

..Atlantis.

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