SANTORINO (Thera), diocese of. - A bishopric on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea, already established in the 4th century. After the occupation of Santorini by the Latins in the 13th century, the Greek bishopric ceased (1566) and a Latin one was established, which still exists today (suffragan of Naxos) alongside the Greek metropolis. There were 700 Catholics in 1624, with 4 parishes and the monastery of the Dominican nuns founded towards the end of the 16th century, but today their number has greatly diminished; in 1951 there were 186 out of 10,850 inhabitants; 11 churches, 1 parish, 1 male and 2 female congregations (Ann. Pont. 1932, p. 368).
BIBL.: P. Zerfenis, 'Agricciarosis Cavtog(vo), Erenupolis (Sira) 1923; G. Hofmann, Vescovadi cattolici della Grecia, V: Thera (Santorins), in Orientalia christiana analecta, n. 130, Roma 1941. Giorgio Hofmann