Samos

Square riggers at Pátmos   

We left Pátmos at 1040 on 2 May with the hope that the forecast light northwesterly wind would help us on our way. Anchored just outside the harbour were 2 square riggers with jolly boats ferrying their passengers ashore. Sadly even outside the harbour there was little or no wind and so we set course for Samos and let the motor and autopilot do all of the work .

Approaching Pythagório, Samos   

Our neighbours took the opportunity to do the washing too   

The log shows that we sailed for just 20 minutes of the 5-hour passage which was a disappointment, as was the weather. It both rained and felt cold; we wore trousers during the day for the first time in over a month, rather than our usual shorts and T-shirts rig. However, the passage had got us further north and safely moored up in Pythagório harbour before the wind turned strong and northerly again on Tuesday.

The buried part of the ancient harbour wall   

Pythagório is built on the ancient Polykrates city of Samos. Under his rule at around 530BC Samos was a powerful nautical state thanks to its innovative trireme warships. This prosperity (some of which came from piratical activities) enabled 3 significant constructions: the harbour walls, Eupalinos’ tunnel and the temple of Hera. The 5^th century BC Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote about them with high praise for the Samians and the “3 greatest constructions”. We, of course, had seen the harbour close up. Walking around the quay the original ancient stonework is still visible and forms a large part of the current harbour wall. The larger 1860s, and more recent, outer wall extended the original line but the covered ancient stonework has been now been exposed by excavation work.

Monastery on the hill above Pythagório close to Eupalinos’ tunnel   

Internet (Wikipedia) photo of Eupalinos’ tunnel   

The Tunnel of Eupalinos is a 1036 metre aqueduct built through the hillside just to the northwest of the town and rates as one of the technological wonders of the ancient world tunnel. The surveying was so good that the two tunnels dug from each side of the hill joined up with just a 4cm vertical error and a horizontal one of less than 1%. We had hoped to visit the tunnel but sadly it has been closed for renovation. We had to make do with an internet photo of the tunnel to give us a feel of what it looks like.

The third great construction was the Hera Temple built 8 km west of Pythagório. Polykrates planned that the temple would be the largest in Greece but it was never completed. Later Byzantine builders pilfered the site for the dressed stonework and so now just the outline of the base and one pillar remain.

Wandering around the harbour gave us a new insight into how to prepare octopus. We’ve seen tenderising by bashing the octopus repeatedly against the harbour wall. We’ve also seen octopus hanging up to dry before being cooked. However,  Pythagório is the first place that we have seen a cement mixer being used to turn and tenderise octopus.

On the western side of the harbour there is a prominent church and a castle.

Byzantine ruins including an early basilica   

We went to look at the castle and discovered beside it were some ruins from the Byzantine era including an early basilica.

Castle of Logothetis with more Byzantine ruins to the right

The castle turned out to be a more recent construction than we had expected. It was built between 1824 and 1827 during the Greek War of Independence by the Samian leader, Lykourgos Logothetis. He was also responsible for building the church alongside it in 1831. During our wanderings we also discovered that the town had been renamed Pythagório as recently as 1955, after the famous ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher from Samos, Pythagoras. Previously the town had been called Tigani.

Waves breaking over the outer harbour wall   

We had a really mixed bag of weather during our brief stay in Samos. From clear bright skies to dreary grey with winds strong enough for the waves to be breaking over the outer harbour wall. It was definitely a time to be safely moored up in harbour rather than running for shelter. Fortunately Samos does have the extra bonus of producing some rather nice wine so being stuck in this harbour wasn’t too bad a deal.

Pythagório, Samos, Greece