Pythagoreio () is a town and municipal unit on the island of

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

North Aegean The North Aegean Region (, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the islands of the north-eastern Aegean Sea, called the North Aegean islands, except for Thasos an ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Before the 2011 local government reform, Pythagoreio was a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. Since 2019, it is a municipal unit of

East Samos East Samos ( ''Anatoliki Samos'') is a municipality on the island of Samos in the North Aegean region in Greece. The municipality was formed at the 2019 local government reform, when the pre-existing municipality of Samos was divided in two. Its s ...

. In 2021, the town's population was 7,515. It is the largest municipal unit in land area on Samos, at . It shares the island with the municipal units of Vathy, Karlovasi, and Marathokampos. The archaeological remains in the town, known collectively as Pythagoreion, has designated a joint

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

with nearby Heraion. The seat of the municipality was the town of Pythagorio, formerly known as Tigani. The town was renamed in 1955 to honour the locally born mathematician and philosopher

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

. The port of the town is considered to be the oldest man-made port of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

History

Pythagorio is built on the ancient city of Samos. Some ruins of the ancient city are today incorporated in modern houses of Pythagorio. The ancient city reached affluence around 530 B.C. under the

tyrant A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to ...

Polycrates Polycrates (; ), son of Aeaces (father of Polycrates), Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from the 540s BC to 522 BC. He had a reputation as both a fierce warrior and an enlightened tyrant. Sources The main source for Polycrates' life and activi ...

. At that time Samos became a powerful nautical state. This power led to richness and prosperity, which is evident from great works of the period, such as the great aqueduct (part of it is the

Tunnel of Eupalinos The Tunnel of Eupalinos or Eupalinian aqueduct () is a tunnel of length running through Mount Kastro in Samos Island, Samos, Greece, built in the 6th century BC to serve as an Aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct. The tunnel is the second known tunn ...

), temple of Heraion, and Samos harbour. Today many of these works can be seen in the modern town and nearby area. The ancient fortification also remains. Samos was conquered by

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

and declined for a while. Samos flourished again for two short periods: First during the 3rd century under Ptolemy's rule (when lived Aristarchus), and second under Roman rule. The ruins of Roman period are visible today, about half a kilometre west of Pythagorio. The harbour of Samos remained important during

Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. Ruins of the Byzantine period are visible in the area of Logothetis' Tower on the west side of the harbour. Samos totally declined during Frangokratia, when the coastal settlements depopulated. In the later

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

the centre of the island was

Chora Chora may refer to: Places Greece * Chora, old capital of the island of Alonnisos * Chora, village on the island of Folegandros * Chora, Ios, capital of the island of Ios * Chora, Messenia, a small town in Messenia in the Peloponnese * Chora, p ...

, built inland, 4 km northwest of Pythagorio. During

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

the Samian Leader Lykourgos Logothetis built a tower in Pythagorio between 1824 and 1827. In 1831 Logothetis built a church near the tower. Between 1859 and 1866 the new harbour was built in the same place as the ancient harbour, after which the settlement started to develop. The name of new settlement was originally Tigani, a corruption to the Italian “Dogana” that means "customs", but in 1955 renamed to Pythagorio after the name of famous ancient Greek Mathematician and Philosopher from Samos

Historical population

Tourism and places of interest

Pythagorio is one of the most visited places of Samos since it has many archaeological sites as well as a big sandy beach. The most important sights in Pythagorio and the nearby area are: *

: a 1086-meter-long tunnel through Mount Kastro, which formed part of an ancient aqueduct. It is located about 2 km northwest of Pythagorio. *

Heraion of Samos The Heraion of Samos was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, on the island of Samos, Greece, 6 km southwest of the ancient city of Samos (modern Pythagoreion). It was located in the low, marshy basin of the Imbrasos river, near where it ...

: a very important archaeological site, with sanctuaries dedicated to Hera. It is located about 4 km west of Pythagorio and, along with Pythagorio, has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. * Ancient harbour of Samos: The ancient harbour is located in the same place as the modern harbour. Herodotus describes a vast

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole" * Golden mole, southern African mammals * Marsupial mole Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...

, but only a few traces have been detected archaeologically. *Ancient theatre: a theatre of Roman period. It has been renovated and it is used for the local cultural festivals.

Famous people

Aristarchus of Samos Aristarchus of Samos (; , ; ) was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first known heliocentric model that placed the Sun at the center of the universe, with the Earth revolving around the Sun once a year and rotati ...

, astronomer and mathematician, born in Pythagorio. - The Official Website of the Municipality of Pythagorio. Retrieved 2008-07-28. *

, mathematician and philosopher, born in Pythagorio c. 580 BC.

Notes

External links