EXPLORING SAMOS

                                                   Vathy a Port of Samos 
                                   

Samos, the legendary, beautiful Greek island is situated on the eastern Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor.

 

The proximity to the coast of Turkey has made the island a link between the two cultures, despite Turkey’s modern expansion theories.  Let us remember that the Ottoman Turks occupied most of Greece except the Ionian Islands for 400 long and terrible years, with massacres, exploitations, and, the most tragic being, the mass kidnapping of Greek children.

It was in Samos where the astronomer Aristarchus introduced heliocentrism, the astrological model in which the planets revolve around the sun.

Samos was also the home to other brilliant minds, including the philosopher Pythagoras, father of mathematics, the philosopher Herodotus, referred to as the “Father of History” and Aesop the ancient Greek storyteller and fabulist.

It was also, the birthplace of Hera the goddess of women, family, marriage, and childbirth.

 

The island came into frequent contact with important Mediterranean cultures, throughout history, such as the Egyptian, Roman. French and Iberian and was the center of trade in the Aegean Sea and a naval force of antiquity.

Apart from its fascinating legends, Samos has beautiful landscapes.  The natural environment of the island, makes one think of the Greek mainland  in miniature, with caves, canyons and mountains, Kerkis and Ampelos, which receive a large amount of rainfall and during winter has Alpine temperatures.

 

                                            Ruins of the Heraion in Samos 

According to the historian Herodotus, Samos had the largest temple in Greece dedicated to Hera features a sanctuary called the “Heraion” and is located in the southern part of the island.  Out of its original 155 huge columns, unfortunately, only one exists today.  This ancient place of worship also includes the ruins of three earlier temples.

The Tunnel of Eupalinos is the tunnel of water that used to be the middle section of a huge aqueduct named Eupalinos.  This was also the name of its architect, who was a famous engineer in antiquity. The tunnel was built during the reign of Polycrates, during the 6^th century BC.