Supreme Court upholds state’s ownership of Santorini caldera
The Supreme Court on Thursday deemed that the caldera of the popular southern Aegean island of Santorini, or Thera, belongs to the state, rejecting an appeal by a private firm that had sought to overturn an earlier ruling by a local appeals court defending the state’s ownership of the land.
In the meantime, Kathimerini understands, the state has taken legal action against the company which has already started construction on a 9-hectare plot on the caldera. According to the argument put forward by the state, the area could never belong to a private individual or company as it has always comprised grazing ground, meadows and rocks.
The Supreme Court’s plenary session ruled that tracts of land on the islands of the Cyclades which constitute forestland, parts of the coastline or grazing land have belonged to the Greek state since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
According to sources, similar suits are currently pending for tracts of land on other islands.
