Overview

Samos lies on the northeastern Aegean, about 324 km (200 miles) from Piraeus and, at the closest point, about 800 meters or half a mile from the Turkish coast. A large island, it has an area of 475 sq km (183 sq miles), a coastline of 159 km (99 miles) and a population of about 36,000.

The beginnings of Samos history are lost in the mists of time. We do not know exactly when it was first inhabited but it is believed that it was as far back as the Neolithic period, i.e. in the 3rd millennium BC. Historians believe that the first colonists of the island were Phoenicians, Leleges, and Carians and also mention the Pelasgians, who brought to the island the worship of the goddess Hera.

The first colonists from Asia Minor were followed in later years by a wave of Myceneans, who, around 1300 BC, are supposed to have been the companions of the mythical king Angaeus, a monarch who had taken part in the Argonaut expedition and was recognized by ancient authorities as the founder of the city of Samos.

Samos reached its apex during the time of Polycrates (532-522 BC). It was then that the island grew into a great naval power and founded its own colonies. A new, 50-oar ship was invented around that time in Samos shipyards, the famous samaina. In later years, its fame and reaches drew Anthony and Cleopatra, who who found a haven here for their love making.

Samos, a conduit between Greece and the flourishing Greek colonies in Ionia, as Asia Minor was known then, managed to remain independent for many years due to its power, and prospered, while fending off constant attempts to conquer it. This is perhaps one of the reasons that Samos produced so many eminent men, like the astronomer and mathematician Aristarchus, who was the first to study the movement of the earth and the first to suggest that it is a planet around the sun, Callistatus, who was responsible for founding or establishing the Greek 24-letter alphabet, the architects and sculptors Rhoikos and Theodoros, who built the famous temple of Hera, and the painters Saurias and Calliphon.

The Highlights:

• The towns of Vathy and Karlovassi, with their turn-of-the-20h century architecture, and charming taverns
• Pythagorio, with antiquities and a lovely marina
• The Hereon temple, west of Pythagorion
• The mountain villages around Mounts Kerky and Ambelos
• The sweet white wines of Samos

We Recommend:

• Stay in Pythagorio and swim in the Potokaki beach, for solitude
• Hike the river up Karlovassi
• Drive around the island, and have dinner at a mountain village.