The island’s only bookstore sits pretty with plenty to showcase.
The welcome vision of Atlantis Books invites visitors in to its cave-like home.
“Book shop” may not be the first thing you think of when you think Greek islands. Day dreams of crystal clear water, mountains and sunny weather is probably what comes to mind first, and that’s how the island of Santorini was for a number of years. It wasn’t until two guys, Will Brady and Craig Walzer, came to the island and decided to do something about it.
Upon entering Atlantis, the walls and ceilings feature a hand-painted timeline of the shop's history.
It was May of 2002 when the duo set to make their mark on the island of Santorini. As the story goes, they went on holiday to Greece straight out of university and found something entirely different than what they expected. Brady and Walzer signed the lease to an empty building facing the sunset, opened a bank account, applied for a business license, and started to fill the place with books.
One of the many segments of novels Atlantis has to offer features the Philosophy section above.
Shelves upon shelves of books are featured inside Atlantis, once you make your way down the staircase to an underground heaven of novels. The inside is ethereal, set up in a way that makes any visitor want to have a look around for hours, or even days. Jelle, one of the shop’s more renowned employees, even mentioned a bed up on the second story, as if spending the night really was a viable option. The atmosphere is very cozy, creating the feeling of almost wanting to be wrapped up in a blanket of all the pages inside.
Another section in Atlantis features an endless stream of English drama.
Some of the greatest highlights of the Atlantis bookstore include the handwritten notes that come along with a large selection of the books they have on display. These little thought fragments are written by either shop employees or those who’ve took a special liking to the book. The notes range from everything to snippets of summaries to comments of enjoyment and why the reader liked the novel so much. The shelves upon shelves of books are also organized in a way slightly different from any other standard bookstore. In one section, you can find a limited selection of first-edition novels. These one-of-a-kind wonders get pretty pricey, but rightfully so, as Atlantis managed to score some of the world’s classics, like “1984” by George Orwell and “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. Other shelves are stocked with genres such as English poetry or philosophy, but they also have a wide variety of novels in French, Spanish and Greek.
The first-edition novels that Atlantis has collected over time start to become pretty pricey.
If you’re looking for the bookworm experience of a lifetime, Atlantis is surely a place that can do no wrong, but the shop also features a few friendly house guests. The owners have both a cat and a dog who live at the shop; the eagerness to please is certainly present from both furry friends. Now, whether this is a nice addition to the warm atmosphere of the shop or simply a ploy to encourage more customers in, the animals make a nice, homely addition to Atlantis Books.
A large selection of their books come with handwritten notes pertinent to each novel.
Any of the shops employees, including Will Brady and Craig Walzer, will be more than happy to chat upon arrival, whether it be informational about the shop or just continuous conversation about books. You can find Atlantis books in Oîa, a town at the end of Santorini, near the famously-known sunset spot. It shouldn’t be hard to miss, considering it is the only bookstore on the island. You may also find the shop online at atlantisbooks.org or on their Instagram page. The opportunity to find something magnificent is bursting from Atlantis Books, and it is surely an experience to be had.
