Without
doubt the most impressive of the surviving technical works
carried out on ancient Samos during the tyrrany of Polykrates
is the famous Eupalinion Orygma, a 1,036 m.-long tunnel
which was part of the city's water supply system, conveying
water from the Agiades Spring which then produced 400
m3 a day. This remarkable project was constructed by the
engineer Eupalinos from Megara. Eupalinos marked out the
underground route on the crest of the mountain and then
proceeded to excavate its interior. In order to save time,
he set his workers to dig from both sides of the mountain.
After extremely precise calculations and several bends
in the tunnel, the two openings were united in the middle,
with only a minimal deviation from the course. The tunnel
is 1,8 x 1,8 m and channelled water to the city for almost
1000 years. The Eupalion aqueduct was discovered in the
19th century and reopened in 1882, but only for study
by archaeologists. It does not bring water to Pythagorion
even though the Agiades source continues to refresh the
inhabitants of and visitors to this charming town.
Samos
not only has an illustrious past, it also has significant monuments
from these times. The most important archaeological site on the
island is the Heraion, the sanctuary of the goddess Hera. Human
habitation here can be traced back to the Neolithic Age and a
goddess of fertility was worshipped here in the Bronze Age. When
the Ionians settled on Samos they introduced the cult of Hera
and decided to establish her sanctuary on the site where a prehistoric
shrine had existed earlier. It was on Samos that the myths about
the Hera were created, according to which the goddess was born
on the banks of the river Imvresos, where she also her first erotic
encounter with Zeus, her future husband. The first temple of Hera
was built in the Heraion in the early 8th century BC and was called
Hekatompedos, because it was 100 feet long (Gr. hekaton = 100,
podia = feet), that is about 30 metres. The temple was extended
in subsequent years and in 570 BC the architect Rhoikos built
a new, larger temple of porow stone next to it. On this same spot
Polykrates began to built the largest temple temple in ancient
Greece, which was 112.2 m long and 44.16 m wide, and had 115 columns.
He didi not live to finish it however, because he was murdered
by the Persians. Later, other temples were built in the Heraion,
not only by the Greeks but also by the Romans, who continued the
cult of Hera. Indeed the Roman emperor Tiberius had granted the
sanctuary the right of asylum, as a result of which a whole settlement
developed around it, where all manner of outlaws - mainly tax-evaders
- sought refuge. The
indented coastline of Samos has many bays and sandy beaches,
promising pleasures for those who love the sea. Those who prefer
amenities and easy access will find all they could wish for
at the large beaches around Kokkari, the enormous stretches
of sand at Mykali, Potokaki, Kambos and Velanidia, as well as
the smaller but superb beaches at Psili Amos (two beaches of
the that name, one on the southwest shore and the other on the
southeast), Klima, Limnionas, Tsamadou, Tsambou, Balos, Kerveli
and Gapazio. Those who are not deterred by the difficulties
of unmetalled roads, the shores at Laka, Kyriakou, Mourtia,
Tsopela - reached after a very beautiful journey along dirt
tracks, the exotic beaches of Mikro and Megalo Seitani, the
countless coves below Spatharei and Koumeika, Kalogera and Peri
beach, will not disappoint them. In the west part of the island,
below the granite crags of Kerketea, they should look for Plaka,
Katsouni, Aghios Isidoros and the two fabulous beaches hidden
below the sacred loneliness of the Monastery of Agh. Ioannou
Eleimonos.
The
ancient city of Samos occupied the same siteas the lovely modern
town of Pythagorio (which used to be called Tigani). The harbour
of Pythagorio is in exactly the same place as the harbour of
ancient Samos and the moles we see today were constructed in
between 1842 and 1862, by the German engineer Karl Humann, upon
the remains of the ancient ones. The most impressive section
of the ancient harbour, which Herodotus described as "earth
in the sea" was a breakwater 360 metres long with foundations
60 fathoms deep. The ancient city was girt by strong walls which
reached down to the quay. A short distance to the southwest
of ancient Samos was a monumental complex, the Thermae (public
baths) and the enormous Gymnasium of the city, the largest such
building in antiquity, covering an area of 35,000 m2 to the
southwest of the city. Beside the harbour were the building
of the Laura, where Polykrates - a great womanizer - had gathered
the most beautiful girls in Samos, whom the ancient authors
refer to tenderly as the "Samian flowers". The
name Samos is prehellenic and means "high, tall".
As we shall see, the island's terrain justifies it completely.
The west part of Samos is dominated by the wild steep slopes
of Mount Kerketeas (anc. Kereketeus), the highest peak of whiich
is Vigla (1434 m asl), while at about the centre of the island
is Mount Ambelos with its dense pine forests and vineyards,
the highest summits of which are Karvouni (1153 m asl) and Ai
Lia (1127 m asl). The island's mountains and hills are covered
with verdant woods of pine, chestnut, oak and cypress, amidst
which run countless brooks and rushing streams of cool water.
Little wonder that the ancient authors used many epithets for
Samos, because of its paradisal natural environment: Anthemous
(flowering), Dorysa (wooded), Kyparissaia (cypress-green), Melanthemous
(Swarthy), Dryousa (tree-filled), Melamphyllos (black-leafed),
Phyllis (leafy) and Hydrele (well-watered). The landscape is
variegated by dense olive groves and rich vales of citrus trees,
which thrive in its fertile soil, as well as orderly vineyards
on the north side, where grow the muscat grapes which, from
antiquity to this day, give the famous sweet golden Samian wine.
It is not fortuitous that because of its blessed earth, the
ancients said of Samos that "the island bears even bird's
milk...".
