Samos
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Highlights
- There are still impressive remaining ruins of Heraion, the temple dedicated to Hera – only one pillar is standing, about half of its original height – close to the south coast of the island, 5 km from Pythagoreion. Heraion had been established since the Geometrical period as a sacred place and remained as such until the Roman era. It is a dipteral Ionic temple with 115 colossal columns. At the time of Polycrates the temple took its final grand form. Herodotus considered the Temple of Hera as “the greatest and most impressive temple in Greece of his time.” The sanctuary was politically and administratively connected to the ancient city of Samos (current Pythagoreion) through the Sacred Way (“Iera Odos”), parts of which have survived. Significant offerings have been found along the Sacred Way, which are now kept in the Archaeological Museum of Samos, the most important being the Statue Group by sculptor Geneleos, and the colossal Kouros. UNESCO has included the temple in the world cultural heritage sites.
- The Tunnel of Efpalinos, or Efpalinian Aqueduct, is one of the greatest technical achievements of the 6th c. BC and is considered by many to be the 8th wonder of the ancient world. Its extremely accurate construction reveals the great architectural knowledge that Greek engineers had at that time. The double-ended orygma as the ancient historian Herodotus calls it, was built during the tyranny of Polycrates to supply the ancient capital of Samos with water. The tunnel was built by the architect Efpalinos, around 550 BC and was used until the Late Roman period. Today is one of the most important monuments of the island.
- The Archaeological Museum of Samos is located at the town of Samos. Its findings are housed at the old Museum, called the “Paschaleio archaiofylakeion”, an antiquities guard-house built in 1912 and at the new Museum, which houses a collection of ancient sculptures, including Archaic, Sculpture, Pottery, Bronze, Ivory, Wood, Clay, and Miniatures collections. The most famous exhibit of the museum is the 5 m high “Kouros of Samos”, the largest surviving kouros in Greece.
- To the west of Pythagoreio, the visitor can find the ruins of Thermae aka the Roman Baths, built during the second half of the 2nd c. AD, including dressing rooms for bathers, facilities for cold baths, an octagonal pool, rooms for hot baths and a vaulted room, as a sauna area. Thermae belong to a single, organized space, which included sports facilities of the ancient city, namely a gymnasium, a stadium and an arena. The stadium was 190-200 m long and 40-50 m wide, one of the largest stadiums in ancient Greece.
- The Archaeological Museum of Pythagoreio, includes a collection of archaic columns, a collection of Roman emperors’ portraits, a collection of reliefs depicting funeral banquets, and pottery (9th c. BC – 2nd c. BC). Among its most important exhibits are the marble seated statue of Aeaces, a large marble sarcophagus in the form of a temple-like edifice of second half of the 6th c. BC, an oversized marble statue of Roman emperor Trajan, a marble portrait of Augustus, and a marble portrait of Claudius.
- The Samos Wine Museum displays the history of Samian wine and the Union of Vinicultural Cooperatives of Samos. The building housing the museum, was once a private winery, then the Union’s cellar/warehouse and cooperage. Even the huge wooden casks, currently museum exhibits, were once in use. Traditional wine making, its tools, its vats and tubs and its chemistry equipment, even the art of fashioning a barrel come to life through exhibits that spin visitors back into remote fragments of centennial time. An ingenious simulation depicts the cultivation of grape vines on their steep terraced perches from the moment they take root to the moment they are tenderly picked. Two cellars are still in use, one reserved for barrels, the other for bottles of wine. Finally, visitors can taste and buy the Union’s wines, at the Museum boutique.
Samos. Vathy. Photo Credit: Sophia Yiannakou.
