The Glorious Island of Samos
By Helen Grubner. Filed in Uncategorized |
Lykourgos Castle and Cemetery - Pythagorio, Samos
Having a Greek reputation to live up to I guess may have had something to do with the ferry “Nissos Kalymnos” being the best part of an hour late to pick us up yesterday from the island of Agathonissi. Disembarked around 1400 hours at the port of Pythagorio on Samos island and walked in the searing heat to my pre-booked accommodation at Hotel Pegasus. An older, traditional establishment, just off the harbour front in a mainly residential street – quiet, clean and comfortable.
Samos is the 9th most populous Greek island, famous for it’s wine and the many men of genius it has produced. Perhaps the most famous of all would be Pythagoras (580 – 500BC) the philosopher, mathematician and musician.
During my stay on Agathonissi, Rena had told me about Sandy, a Kiwi lady with a Cafe Bar in Pythagorio – last night I went looking for her. Not too difficult to find with a New Zealand flag and an All Blacks flag proudly displayed in the Iliad. The moment I told her I was from Wanganui she had to sit down – her parents and older sister live there and Sandy used to too. In 2000, Sandy’s Australian born Greek husband passed away and she made the decision to stay in Samos with her son and daughter as they were happy here. This ex pat Kiwi is certainly a great ambassador for New Zealand and Greece – her bubbly and friendly personality I am sure would make anyone feel welcome at Iliad Cafe Bar.
This morning after breakfast at the hotel, armed with a roughly drawn map Despina had given me and good advice to stay on the roads because of snakes, I set off on foot to walk firstly to the site of an Ancient Theatre and then on to the Tunnel of Eupalinos. At the site of the Ancient Theatre (which was not worth viewing) I met a Dutchman, an obvious nature lover, whose hobby it is to photograph birds. He had left his family sleeping at their hotel and gone out early on his own. During the course of our conversation I did say to him – he would love New Zealand.
In the 6th Century BC, Samos was ruled by the famous tyrant Polycrates. During his reign, led by the engineer Eupalinos, a tunnel was dug through Mount Kastro to build an aqueduct to supply the ancient capital of Samos with fresh water. With a length of more than one kilometre, the Eupalinian aqueduct was a marvel of ancient engineering, being the earliest tunnel in history to be dug from both ends in a methodical manner and is now part of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site, the Pythagoreion. For an admission fee of 4 Euro, you are able to walk a reasonable distance into the tunnel where the air was so wonderfully cool.
Then taking the other fork in the road, I walked up to the Monastery of Spiliani, with the little chapel in a cave and splendid views of the town of Pythagorio. Once back in the town, a visit to the Archaeological Museum of Pythagorio before continuing on to the beautiful Holy Church of the Metamorphosis. After the great victory at Mikali on 6 August 1824 when the island was saved by a miracle, the leader of the revolution in Samos, Lykourgos Logothetis, decided to build the church as an expression of thanks and gratitude to Almighty God ,who blessed and gave the victory to the Greek fighters against the Turks. Lykourgos Castle next door was built in the beginning of the 19th Century.
Is it any wonder I sometimes think – can it get any better? The Greek glories of the Past, the Present and hopefully, the Future.