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Pythagorion Port Village
Samos, a view over Pythagorion taken from the monastary of Spiliani |
Welcome to Pythagorion!
Pythagorion is a village of around 300 inhabitants which, of course, become many more during the summer. It lies some 13 kilometers (8 miles) east from the Town of Samos, on the eastern part of Kambos plain, built right on top of the remains of the ancient city of Samos. It features an almost completely round artificial port, after which the village used to be called Tighani (Frying Pan).
This is an ancient port, described already by Herodotus (see below), impressed by the fact that it was made in the sea using debris brought in from elsewhere! The Tunnel of Eupalinus, an aqueduct built in the 6th century BC under the reign of the tyrant Polycrates (or, as researchers tend to believe, somewhat earlier), is not, therefore, the only marvel of ancient Greek mechanics!
There is more of interesting sight-seeing at Pythagorion: Remnants of the Palace of Polycrates, defensive walls, Roman Baths… Higher uphill, there are relics of an ancient open theater and still higher up, near the mouth of the Aqueduct, there is Spiliani Cave with a Greek-Orthodox church, Aghios Georgios, built at its entrance. One more church, built around 1824, is to be found in the castle.
From Herodotus, "I have talked so much about the Samians, because, of all the Greeks, they have made the three greatest works of construction. One is a double-mouthed channel driven underground through a hill nine hundred feet high. ... The second is a mole in the sea around the harbor, one hundred a twenty feet deep. The length of the mole is a quarter of a mile. The third work of the Samians is the greatest temple that I have ever seen." There is a "tunnel nearly a mile long, eight feet wide and eight feet high, driven clean through the base of a hill nine hundred feet in height. The whole length of it carries a second cutting thirty feet deep and three broad, along which water from an abundant source is led through pipes into the town. This was the work of a Megarian named Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus."
Samos, ancient sights near the Metamorphose church in Pythagorion |
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Samos Pythagorion Castle |
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