What Instagram won’t tell you about the whitewashed charm of Santorini
From hard times to becoming a tourism icon, Greek architecture blends history and aesthetics. Residents still preserve this cultural heritage for several reasons.
The houses on the Greek islands are often painted white with blue details.
The Greek islands, with their picturesque landscapes and the vibrant blue Mediterranean Sea, are globally recognized for their distinctive architecture: white houses with blue accents. This color scheme has become one of Greece’s most recognizable symbols, especially on the Cycladic islands like Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, and Naxos. Although these colors are often associated with Greek culture and national symbolism, their origins are more closely tied to practical and contextual reasons.
One of the main reasons why houses on the Greek islands adopted the color white is related to the hot climate and the natural environment. According to the local outlet Greek Reporter, homes on islands like Mykonos, Paros, and Naxos were originally built with stone due to the lack of wood in the rocky terrain.
However, the dark stone absorbed the sun’s heat during the scorching Aegean summers, making the interiors unbearably hot. To solve this problem, residents began to whitewash the exterior walls of their homes. The white paint reflected sunlight, preventing heat absorption and helping to keep the interiors cool—a practical necessity in such a hot climate.
However, the use of white wasn’t only due to climate. It was also tied to public health concerns. In 1938, under the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas, Greece faced a severe cholera outbreak. According to Greek Reporter, to curb the spread of the disease, the regime ordered all homes to be whitewashed with a mixture containing lime and limestone. This mixture acted as a disinfectant, cleaning surfaces of potential bacteria and reducing the risk of illness. While such measures might seem unusual today, lime was one of the few disinfectants available at the time and was deeply rooted in local tradition.
While white was the obvious choice for house exteriors, blue also played an important role in the aesthetics of the Greek islands. Blue is commonly used for doors, windows, and shutters in many island homes—but the choice wasn’t entirely based on aesthetics.
As Greek Reporter explained, fishermen and sailors living on these islands would paint their windows and shutters using leftover boat paint. Due to the chemical composition of boat paint, blue was the cheapest and most accessible color for islanders, who made it using a mix of lime and loulaki (a blue talc-like powder commonly found in the region). This practical use of blue spread across the islands, contributing to the uniformity of the color scheme.
The blue and white color scheme reached its formalization during the 1967 military dictatorship in Greece. The ruling military regime, which seized control of the country that year, promoted these colors as symbols of patriotism and nationalism. According to the regime, the white and blue represented the colors of the national flag, and their mandatory adoption aimed to strengthen national unity and Greek identity during a tense political and social period. In 1974, after the fall of the dictatorship, a law was enacted making it mandatory for island houses to be painted in this color scheme.
Even though these regulations were relaxed in the following decades, the use of white and blue persisted in local architecture due to its nationalistic associations and strong tourist appeal. The Greek islands, with their white and blue houses, became one of the world’s top tourist attractions—especially after the 1980s. This aesthetic is appreciated for its beauty and the sense of serenity and harmony it evokes.
Today, white and blue remain the predominant colors in the architecture of the Greek islands, for both practical and aesthetic reasons. While some residents have begun experimenting with other colors—like red, green, or brown—white and blue still dominate the landscape, becoming a hallmark of identity that attracts millions of tourists every year. These colors have become a marketing strategy to promote tourism, as houses painted in white and blue continue to be seen as the perfect image of traditional and Mediterranean Greece.
The impact of these colors on the tourism industry is undeniable. Images of white houses with blue accents, featured in postcards and on social media, remain one of the most iconic visuals associated with the Greek islands, boosting the local economy and continuing to draw travelers from around the globe.
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