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The Heraion of Samos |
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This is the most important of the sanctuaries dedicated to Hera.
The first, small-scale excavation of the site was conducted by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (doctor and botanist) in 1702. In the 18th and 19th centuries, travelers visited the sanctuary and made drawings of the remains of the temple. In 1879, at the NE corner, Paul Girard discovered the statue of "Hera" of Cheramyes, now exhibited in the Louvre. The most important monuments of the site are: The temple of Hera Ionic dipterous temple built during the tyranny of Polycrates (538-522 B.C.). Only one column is still standing today, preserved up to half of its original height, while the foundations are preserved up to the base of the walls and the stylobate. Herodotus considered this temple as the largest in Greece. It follows almost exactly the contour lines of the cella and the pronaos of the older temple "of Rhoikos" (570/60 B.C.), but it is much larger (108.63 x 55.16 m.). This difference in size is due to the addition of a third colonnade to the front and back of the peristasis, apparently following the example of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, which had been built slightly earlier. The temple had a total of 155 columns, belonging to four different sizes and types. The entablature must have been made of wood. Since no tiles were found, it is suggested that the roof was never completed. |
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The Great Altar |
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Very large even in its earlier phases, occupied always the same position. Seven successive phases have been distinguished, of which the earliest, a small structure built of rubble, dates from the Late Bronze Age.
The altar of the 8th/7th century B.C., for unknown reasons (possibly connected with the cult) was not placed on axis to the temple, but was orientated NW / SE.
It acquired its monumental form in ca. 560 B.C., and was almost contemporary with the monumental temple of Rhoikos and Theodoros, placed on its axis. On the basis of the preserved foundations, its size is estimated to 36.50 X 16.50m. The temple opened to the main sacrifical area which was surrounded on three sides by a wall, 5-7m. high.
This was decorated with impressive cymatia, and, on the interior, with a frieze showing fighting animals and sphinxes.The free edges of the two walls bear richly decorated anta capitals.In imperial Roman times (1st-2nd centuries A.D.) the altar was rebuilt of marble, and decorated with copies of the Archaic architectural decoration. |
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The Tunnel of Eupalinos |
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The aqueduct of the ancient city of Samos, called the two-mouthed tunnel by Herodotus, is one of the most significant technical achievements of Greek antiquity. It is a tunnel 1036 m. long, hewn from the rock through Mt. Kastron, starting from the north side and ending to the south. It is located 55 m. above sea level and 180 m. below the top of the mountain. The dimensions of the tunnel are 1.80 x 1.80 m. Inside it, at a depth of 2-9 m. is the channel that carried the water to the city. Two architectural phases have been distinguished:
a) the Archaic, with the polygonal masonry and the pointed roof and
b) the Roman, with a barrel-vaulted roof. The aqueduct was the work of Eupalinos, son of Naustrophos, an engineer from Megara. Its construction started in 550 B.C., during the tyranny of Polycrates and lasted for ten years. Many Lesbian prisoners were used by the Samians for the completion of the work.
The inhabitants of Samos attempted to use the aqueduct in 1882 but their effort was not successful. Ninety years later, between 1971 and 1973, the German Archaeological Institute of Athens undertook the task to finally uncover the tunnel. |
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