Akrotiri (prehistoric city)

Akrotiri is an ancient city that existed a long, long time ago on an island called Santorini, which is in Greece. It's so old that it existed before people even wrote things down or took pictures, so the only way we know about it now is by looking at the things it left behind.

Back then, Akrotiri was a really big and important place where lots of people lived and worked. They built their homes out of stone and used really cool techniques to make things like pottery and jewelry. They even had some buildings that were like big, fancy palaces!

One day, though, something really big and scary happened. A volcano called Santorini (the same one the island is named after!) erupted, which means it started shooting out hot rocks, ash, and lava. This was really dangerous and it made the people who lived in Akrotiri very scared.

In fact, the eruption was so big and scary that it covered up the whole city with layers and layers of volcanic material, like a giant blanket. This made the city disappear for a really, really long time - almost 4,000 years!

But eventually, people found Akrotiri again and started digging it up. They found all sorts of amazing things like colorful frescoes (which are like really big paintings on walls), fancy furniture, and everyday items like pots and pans. By looking at these things, we can learn a lot about how people lived in Akrotiri a long time ago.

So, even though Akrotiri doesn't exist anymore, we can still learn about it and appreciate how cool and important it was thanks to all the things it left behind!