A TRAVEL WRITER'S DAY ON SAMOS ISLAND

My last two days on Samos were intended to be 'working' days where I would tour the sites and get new ideas for stories, in particular stories that related to history.  My first writer's day was quite successful in Samos/Vathi town when I went to the archaeological museum and then spent some pleasant time at the Samos Wine Museum.  The next day  I set off for Pythagorian where ancient Samos really had it's beginnings and there are two very important archaeological sites to visit.

Kouros, Samos museum

In my previous posting I explained how that day turned out to be quite frustrating and exhausting with a lot of pointless walking about in the hot sun.  Aside from my visits to the old castle and museum, the other two sites I had hoped to see didn't turn out so well.  One of those frustrations a travel writer has to face and make the best of it.

Samos island has a very interesting history dating back to very early times.  The name Samos is from Phoenician meaning "rise by the shore" and this green, mountainous island rises out of the sea like at lovely gem. It has always been famous for it's wine trade and also the red pottery produced there. It was the centre of Ionian culture in classical antiquity. Being close to Asia Minor, the Samians have been known to worship both the gods of the East and the 12 Olympians. The most worshiped deity of the island was Hera and her temple is one of the most significant monuments of ancient Greece.  Because of the distance between Samos town and the temple site they made a road known as the 'holy road' (Hiera Odos) that was decorated with many statues and votive offerings.  Every spring there was a march of believers going to the temple for a feast that lasted 3 days.  It was this temple, The Hereion, that I wanted most to visit.  There had been a temple on that site where rituals were performed since the 8th century BC but in the beginning of the 6th century a great temple was built that was later destroyed in an earthquake. During the reign of Polykrates an even greater temple was started with a55 columns, 20 meters in height. Unfortunately it was never completed because of the political and economical collapse of the state after Polykrates' death.  Most of the votive offerings given at the temple in the 3r and 2nd century BC were stolen by the Romans.  during the 1st and 2nd century AD many temples devoted to other gods were built.

I am disappointed I didn't get to the Temple site because of mis-direction and lack of transportation there.  However I did manage to make my way eventually to another famous site, the Tunnel that Polykrates had built under the mountain to transport water to Samos. This is the earliest tunnel in history to be dug  from both ends, extending 1 km.  It is now regarded as one of the masterpieces of the ancient world and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Of course, Samos is also famous for being the birthplace of Pythagoras who lived there until he was exiled by the tyrant, Polykrates.  The town of Pythagorion is named for him and there is an impressive statue of him at the harbour.  On the road from Pythagorian leading to the site of the Hereion, there are a number of ruins of temples such as one to the Nymphs.  This was likely part of the Holy Road.  There were also ruins of a theatre and old village up near the tunnel but I missed seeing them because I was riding there by taxi.

I was glad, at least, to have had the experience of going down into that amazing tunnel, of only for a few minutes.  And I managed to get a few photos so I'll be able to write a story about it later.

WHEN THINGS DON'T GO ACCORDING TO PLANS!

Sometimes, no matter how organized you are and how precise you make your plans, things just don't work out.  I had my whole day planned today, getting up early for the bus to Pythagorian, so that it would allow me plenty of time to see the two major archaeological sites that I came to Samos to see.

I got there in good time this morning, walked over to take photos of the impressive statue of Pythagoras at the port, and then explored the old castle and museum inside it.  Then I stopped by the tourism place to ask about buses to the temple of Hera and the famous underground tunnel.  She told me there was a bus for Ierion but that I could walk to the tunnel.  I had intended to take Inka's advice and take a taxi there but decided to try the walk.  Unfortuantely, I missed the road turn-off and ended up walking god knows how many kilometers along the hot busy highway before turning back.  I realized I'd passed the turn off signs as they were not visible in the direction I'd been walking. And anyway, later I found it was all up-hill to get there!

I got back into town in time for the next bus to Ieorion which is near where the Hereion is.  When I got there I asked a lady about getting there and she pointed up the road and said I could walk it.  I trudged along for quite awhile and saw no signs of an archaeological site, so turned back and waited at the taxi stand.  If there is a taxi in that town, there must only be one. A bunch of people were already waiting and none came.  So I gave up in discouragement and went for lunch then caught the bus back to Pythagorian.  I never did even get a glimpse of the Temple of Hera.

Tunnel Entrance



At Pythagorian I asked a taxi driver to take me to the tunnel. He wasn't too enthusiastic and said it was closed as it was after 3 pm (however, I had a paper from the tourism that said it was open late). He begrudgingly waited me for when I explained I only wanted to take a couple of photos. This is an amazing feat of engineering from ancient times and is a world heritage site.  It was built under the mountain to transport water to Samos and it's over 1 km. long  It's regarded as one of the masterpiecess of ancient enginieering. Anyway, it was open and i went inside, squeezing down the narrow entranceway (if you are claustrophobic don't attempt it!) and into the main part of the tunnel which reminded me of the coal pits that I visited some time ago in Wales.  I only walked a little ways and took a couple of photos, then went back to
the taxi.  He charged me almost 15 euro for that little excursion!!

I had a couple of hours to kill in Pythagorion and I was so hot and tired I had an icecream soda and then went and soaked me feet in the water awhile.  Eventually killed the two hours time before my bus back to Samos came.

So here I am hot and tired and I didn't write nearly the creative blog I'd intended but I will do another one with lots more details about the Temple of Hera,  Pythagorian town, and the amazing tunnel!

I'm back to Athens tomorrow and looking forward to some days of just vegging out, washing my clothes, visiting friends, and hanging out at the To Kati Allo.