24 Nov 2014
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Image Copyright: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild:Im001134_.JPG Säule im Heraion auf Samos. Copyright Ch. Eckert 2003.

During your vacation in Samos, you will be flooded by the spirit of ancient Greece, when visiting exceptional museums and important archaeological sites.

The Heraion, the largest archaeological site on the island, is where, according to tradition, the goddess Hera was born and raised. It is the place where you will find the ruins of the temple of “Imvrasia Hera”, one of the largest temples in antiquity, which had the right to be called a sanctuary. Here, you will also find the “Sacred Way”, which had a length of 4880 meters and linked the ancient city to the Heraion.

In Pythagorio there are the ruins of the “Wall of Polycrates”, the “Ancient Theatre”, the “Roman Baths” and the famous “Efpalinio Tunnel” (1036 meters), a real masterpiece of the 6th century engineering, which supplied the ancient city with water. In the archaeological collection, which is display in a recently constructed archaeological museum, there are dedicatory columns of the archaic period, column capitals and portraits of roman emperors.

In the city of Samos you can find another fabulous archaeological museum, with exhibits of incredible interest, sculpture, ceramics and bronze works. The giant Kouros (5,5 meters) stands out as a unique find. Another masterpiece is a sculptural composition by the Samiote Genelaos (6th century BC), dedicated to the goddess Hera, made up of 6 figures on a single base, of which only 3 survive today. Objects, holy relics and utensils from the monasteries of the island have been collected and are on display at the Ecclesiastical-Byzantine museum.

In Mytilinioi, the paleontological museum hosts finds of great importance. Prehistoric bones of vertebrates, joints of local wild animals, lactic teeth and bones of mastodons. The most precious find is a petrified brain of a pony that is estimated to be 13 million years old.

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