Samos

Samos (/ˈseɪmɒs/,^[2] also US: /ˈsæmoʊs, ˈsɑːmɔːs/;^[3][4][5] Greek: Σάμος, romanized: Sámos, Greek pronunciation: [ˈsa.mos]) 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 1.6-kilometre-wide (1.0 mi) Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region.

In

The island was governed by the semi-autonomous Principality of Samos under Ottoman suzerainty from 1835 until it joined Greece in March 1913.^[6]

Strabo derived the name from the Phoenician word 𐤔𐤌𐤌 (smm) 'high'.^{[7][8][9][10]}

The area of the island is 477.395 km² (184.3 sq mi),^[11] and it is 43 km (27 mi) long and 13 km (8 mi) wide. It is separated from Anatolia by the approximately 1-mile-wide (1.6 km) Mycale Strait. While largely mountainous, Samos has several relatively large and fertile plains.

A great portion of the island is covered with

Samos's relief is dominated by two large mountains, Ampelos and Kerkis (anc. Kerketeus). The Ampelos massif (colloquially referred to as "Karvounis") is the larger of the two and occupies the centre of the island, rising to 1,095 metres (3,593 ft). Mt. Kerkis, though smaller in area, is the taller of the two, and its summit is the island's highest point, at 1,434 metres (4,705 ft). The mountains are a continuation of the Mycale range on the Anatolian mainland.^[6]

Samos is home to many species including the

Samos has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. The highest temperature ever recorded is 43.0 °C (109.4 °F) while the lowest is −3.4 °C (25.9 °F). July is the hottest and driest month followed by August while February is the coldest month and December records the highest amount of precipitation. Samos receives about 705 millimetres (27.8 in) of rainfall annually while the average annual temperature is 18.4 °C (65.1 °F). Humidity is lowest during the summer and highest at the end of autumn.

In classical antiquity, the island was a centre of

Concerning the earliest history of Samos, literary tradition is singularly defective. At the time of the great migrations, it received an Ionian population which traced its origin to Epidaurus in Argolis: Samos became one of the twelve members of the Ionian League. By the 7th century BC, it had become one of the leading commercial centres of Greece. This early prosperity of the Samians seems largely due to the island's position near trade routes, which facilitated the import of textiles from inner Asia Minor, but the Samians also developed an extensive oversea commerce. They helped to open up trade with the population that lived around the Black Sea as well as with Egypt, Cyrene (Libya), Corinth, and Chalcis. Among the colonies the Samians founded, most of them in the sixth century BC, were Bisanthe, Perinthus, and Samothrace (northern Aegean Sea), Cydonia (Crete), Nagidos and Kelenderis (southern Anatolia), Dicaearchia (Italy), and Oasis Polis (Egypt).^[16] The trade caused them to become bitter rivals with Miletus. Samos was able to become so prominent despite the growing power of the Persian empire because of the alliance they had with the Egyptians and their powerful fleet. The Samians are also credited with having been the first Greeks to reach the Straits of Gibraltar.^[17]

The feud between Miletus and Samos broke out into open strife during the Lelantine War (7th century BC), with which a Samian innovation in Greek naval warfare may be connected, the use of the trireme. The result of this conflict was to confirm the supremacy of the Milesians in eastern waters for the time being; but in the 6th century, the insular position of Samos preserved it from those aggressions at the hands of Asiatic kings to which Miletus was henceforth exposed. About 535 BC, when the existing oligarchy was overturned by the tyrant Polycrates, Samos reached the height of its prosperity. Its navy not only protected it from invasion but also ruled supreme in Aegean waters. The city was beautified with public works, and its school of sculptors, metal-workers and engineers achieved high repute.^[6]

In the 6th century BC, Samos was ruled by the famous

After Polycrates's death, Samos suffered a severe blow when the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered and partly depopulated the island. It had regained much of its power when in 499 BC it joined the general revolt of the Ionian city-states against Persia; but owing to its long-standing jealousy of Miletus, it rendered indifferent service, and at the decisive battle of Lade (494 BC), part of its contingent of sixty ships was guilty of outright treachery. In 479BC, the Samians led the revolt against Persia, during the Battle of Mycale,^[6] which was part of the offensive by the Delian League (led by Cimon).

In the Delian League, Samos held a position of special privilege and remained actively loyal to Athens until 440 BC, when a dispute with Miletus, which the Athenians had decided against them, induced them to secede. With a fleet of sixty ships, they held their own for some time against a large Athenian fleet led by Pericles himself, but after a protracted siege, they were forced to capitulate.^[6] Samos was punished, but Thucydides tells readers not as harshly as other states which rebelled against Athens. Most in the past had been forced to pay tribute, but Samos was only told to repay the damages that the rebellion had cost the Athenians:^[19] 1,300 talents, to pay back in instalments of 50 talents per annum.

During the

Perhaps the most famous persons ever connected with classical Samos were the philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras and the fabulist Aesop. In 1955, the town of Tigani was renamed Pythagoreio in honour of the philosopher.

Other notable personalities include the philosophers

The vases of Samos were among the most characteristic products of Ionian pottery in the 6th century.^[citation needed]

For some time (about 275–270 BC), Samos served as a base for the Egyptian fleet of the

As a portion of the Byzantine Empire, Samos became part of the namesake theme. After the 13th century, it passed through much the same changes of government as Chios, and, like the latter island, became the property of the Genoese family Giustiniani (1346–1566; 1475 interrupted by an Ottoman period). It was also ruled by Tzachas between 1081–1091.^[6]

Samos came under Ottoman rule in 1475^[20] or c. 1479/80,^[21] at which time the island was practically abandoned due to the effects of piracy and the plague. The island remained desolate for almost a full century before the Ottoman authorities, by now in secure control of the Aegean, undertook a serious effort to repopulate the island.^[21]

In 1572/3, the island was granted as a personal domain (hass) to

In March 1821, the

In 1834, the island of Samos became the territory of the Principality of Samos, a semi-independent state tributary to Ottoman Turkey, paying the annual sum of £2,700. It was governed by a Christian of Greek descent though nominated by the Porte, who bore the title of "Prince." The prince was assisted in his function as chief executive by a 4-member senate. These were chosen by him out of eight candidates nominated by the four districts of the island: Vathy, Chora, Marathokampos, and Karlovasi. The legislative power belonged to a chamber of 36 deputies, presided over by the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan. The seat of the government was the port of Vathý.^[6]

The modern capital of the island was, until the early 20th century, at Chora, about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the sea and from the site of the ancient city.^[6]

After reconsidering political conditions, the capital was moved to Vathy, at the head of a deep bay on the North coast. This became the residence of the prince and the seat of government.^[6]

Since then a new town has grown, with a harbour.^{[citation needed]}

The island was united with the

King George II visited Samos in 1937 during the 4th of August Regime.^[26]

During

On August 3, 1989, a Short 330 aircraft of the Olympic Airways (now Olympic Airlines) crashed near Samos Airport; 31 passengers and the crew died.^[29]

A substantial migrant camp has been developed on the island at the site of a Greek military camp at Vathy to cope with the influx of migrants crossing the strait between the island and the Turkish mainland. It is estimated that in April 2020 the Vathy camp held 6,800 migrants, ten times the number it was originally designed for.^[30] The presence of large numbers of migrants on the Greek islands has caused tensions and some civil unrest on the part of island residents and migrants being kept in camps.^[31] In 2020, the Greek government announced a new closed reception centre will be built near the village of Zervou to replace the current temporary open camps by 2021.^[32]

On 30 October 2020, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck offshore near the island, triggering a tsunami. The earthquake and tsunami resulted in two deaths and several injured in Samos, and 117 deaths and 1632 injured in Turkey. The earthquake also caused damage to a number of buildings in Vathy, Karlovasi, and their vicinities; these included residential buildings, public buildings (schools, halls, etc.), religious buildings (churches), the tower of Lykourgos Logothetis, as well as pottery collections and sculptures at some museums.^[33]

Samos is a separate

• Pythagoreio
• Vathy

The municipality of West Samos consists of the following municipal units:

• Karlovasi
• Marathokampos

Samos has a sister town called Samo, which is located in Calabria, Italy.

The province of Samos (Greek: Επαρχία Σάμου) was one of the provinces of the Samos Prefecture. It had the same territory as the present regional unit.^[36] It was abolished in 2006.

The Samian economy depends mainly on agriculture^[

is the main crop used for wine production. Samian wine is also exported under several other appellations.

Cuisine

Local specialities:

• Bourekia (Börek)
• Katimeria
• Armogalo cheese
• Katádes (dessert)
• Moustalevria (dessert)
• Muscat of Samos (wine)
• Tiganites (pancakes)

UNESCO

The island is the location of the joint UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Heraion of Samos and the Pythagoreion which were inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1992.^[38]

Notable people

Ancient

• Aegles, athlete
• Aeschrion of Samos, poet
• Aesop, storyteller
• Aethlius (writer)
• Agatharchus, painter
• Agathocles (writer)
• Aristarchus of Samos (3rd century BC), astronomer and mathematician, the first known individual to propose that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
• Asclepiades of Samos, epigrammist and poet
• Asius of Samos, poet
• Conon of Samos, astronomer and mathematician
• Creophylus of Samos, legendary singer
• Duris of Samos (4th-3rd century BC), historian
• Epicurus (4th century BC), philosopher, founder of the Epicurean school of philosophy
• Melissus of Samos, philosopher
• Nicaenetus of Samos, poet
• Philaenis (4th-3rd century BC), courtesan and writer
• Polycrates (6th century BC), tyrant of Samos
• Pythagoras (6th century BC), philosopher, mathematician, and religious leader, after whom the Pythagorean theorem is named.
• Telauges, philosopher
• Pythagoras (sculptor)
• Rhoecus (6th century BC), sculptor
• Telesarchus of Samos (6th century BC), aristocrat
• Theodorus (6th century BC), sculptor and architect
• Theon of Samos, painter

Modern

• Lykourgos Logothetis (1772–1850), leader of the Samians during the revolution of 1821
• Ion Ghica (1816–1897), Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat, prime minister of Romania, first president of the Romanian Academy, prince of Samos
• Themistoklis Sofoulis (1860–1949), politician, Prime Minister of Greece
• Kostas Roukounas (1903–1984), singer of Rebetika
• Nikos Stavridis (1910–1987), actor
• Nerses Ounanian (1924–1957), Armenian-Uruguayan sculptor
• Nikolaos Margioris (1913–1993), Greek esoteric philosopher
• Anna Perivolaris (c. 1888 – 1963), teacher of Greek culture in Australia^[39]

Gallery

• 
  The town hall and the archaeological museum in Vathy
• 
  St Spyridon, Samos town
• 
  Old tobacco factory, Samos town
• 
  Kokkari beach
• 
  Samos International Airport

See also

• 1904 Samos earthquake
• Xenophon
• Ancient regions of Anatolia

Notes

1. ^ "Αποτελέσματα Απογραφής Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2021, Μόνιμος Πληθυσμός κατά οικισμό" [Results of the 2021 Population - Housing Census, Permanent population by settlement] (in Greek). Hellenic Statistical Authority. 29 March 2024.
2. ^ "Samos". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06.
3. ^ "Samos". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
4. ^ "Samos". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
5. ^ "Samos". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p} Bunbury, Caspari & Gardner 1911, p. 116.
7. ^ Strabo, Geography, 10.2.17
8. ISBN 9780192556462
   .
9. ISBN 9780786727278
   .
10. ISBN 9781108016872
    .
11. ^ "Population & housing census 2001 (incl. area and average elevation)" (PDF) (in Greek). National Statistical Service of Greece. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-21.
12. ^ "Conservation Action Plan for the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Greece" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
13. ^ "Samos Climate". Hellenic National Meteorological Service. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
14. ^ "Climate Data for Samos". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
15. ^ "Normales et records climatologiques 1981-2010 à Samos Airport - Infoclimat".
16. ISBN 978-90-04-12204-8
    .
17. ^ "Samos (island, Greece) - Britannica Online Encyclopedia". Britannica.com. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
18. ^ The Siloam Tunnel was first Archived 2011-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 1.117.3
20. ^
    ISBN 9783920153568
    .
21. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Landros Christos; Kamara Afroditi; Dawson Maria-Dimitra; Spiropoulou Vaso (10 July 2005). "Samos: 2.3. Ottoman rule". Cultural Portal of the Aegean Archipelago. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
22. ^ ^{a b c} Landros Christos, Kamara Afroditi; Dawson Maria-Dimitra; Spiropoulou Vaso (10 July 2005). "Samos: 2.4. The Greek War of Independence, 1821". Cultural Portal of the Aegean Archipelago. Foundation of the Hellenic World. Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
23. ^ "The Island of Samos".
24. ISBN 0-415-22946-4
    .
25. ISBN 0-275-97888-5
    ..
26. ^ Μιχάλης Φύλλας, «H επίσκεψη του Βασιλέως Γεωργίου β΄ στη Σάμο το 1937 μέσα από τον σαμιακό τύπο της εποχής: η περίπτωση των εφημερίδων « Σ ά μ ο ς » και « Α ι γ α ί ο ν » Δελτίον Σαμιακών Σπουδών, τομ. 5 (2019-2020), σελ.113-126 [1]
27. ^ Vasileiou et al. 1987, pp. 9–12.
28. ^ Margaritis 2006, pp. 424–439.
29. ^ "ASN Aircraft Accident Shorts 330-200 SX-BGE". Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
30. ^ "Greece to close Samos island migrant camp by year end". InfoMigrants. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
31. ^ Bell, Bethany (22 January 2020). "Greek islanders strike over crowded migrant camps". BBC News. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
32. ^ "Μετανάστες : "Πιλότος" η Σάμος για τις νέες δομές στα νησιά". in.gr (in Greek). 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
33. ISSN 1793-4311
    .
34. ^ "Τροποποίηση του άρθρου 1 του ν. 3852/2010" [Amendment of Article 1 of l. 3852/2010] (in Greek). Government Gazette. p. 1164.
35. ^ "ΦΕΚ A 87/2010, Kallikratis Programme law text".
36. ^ "Detailed census results 1991" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. (39 MB) (in Greek and French)
37. ^ Ioannis Spilanis, H. Vayanni et K. Glyptou (2012). Evaluating the tourism activity in a destination: the case of Samos Island, Revue Etudes Caribéennes, http://etudescaribeennes.revues.org/6257
38. ^ "Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. 2009-09-18. Archived from the original on 29 November 2005. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
39. ^ Yiannakis, John N., "Anna Perivolaris (1888–1963)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2024-02-17

References

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bunbury, Edward Herbert; Caspari, Maximilian Otto Bismarck; Gardner, Ernest Arthur (1911). "Samos". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 116–117.

• Margaritis, Giorgos (2006). Ιστορία του ελληνικού εμφυλίου πολέμου 1946-1949 [History of the Greek Civil War 1946-1949] (in Greek). Vol. II. Athens: Vivliorama.
  ISBN 9608087139
  .
• Vasileiou, Theodoros; Diakogiannis, Manolis; Zafeiris, Giannis; Katsoufros, Kostas; Marinis, Kostas; Christodoulou, Epi (1987). Ο αγώνας του Δημοκρατικού στρατού στη Σάμο [The Struggle of the Democratic Army in Samos] (in Greek). Athens: Syghroni Epoxi.
  ISBN 9602249552
  .

Further reading

Ancient sources

• Herodotus, especially book iii.
• Strabo xiv. pp. 636–639
• Thucydides, especially books i. and viii.
• Xenophon, Hellenica, books i. ii.

Modern texts

• A. Agelarakis, "Anthropologic Results: The Geometric Period Necropolis at Pythagoreion". Archival Report. Samos Island Antiquities Authority, Greece, (2003).
• J. P. Barron, The Silver Coins of Samos (London, 1966).
• J. Boehlau, Aus ionischen and italischen Nekropolen (Leipzig, 1898). (E. H. B.; M. 0. B. C.; E. Ga.).
• C. Curtius, Urkunden zur Geschichte von Samos (Wesel, 1873).
• P. Gardner, Samos and Samian Coins (London, 1882).
• V. Guérin, Description de l'île de Patmos et de l'île de Samos (Paris, 1856).
• K. Hallof and A. P. Matthaiou (eds), Inscriptiones Chii et Sami cum Corassiis Icariaque (Inscriptiones Graecae, xii. 6. 1–2). 2 vols. (Berolini–Novi Eboraci: de Gruyter, 2000; 2004).
• B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (Oxford, 1887), pp. 515–518.
• L. E. Hicks and G. F. Hill, Greek Historical Inscriptions (Oxford, 1901), No. 81.
• H. Kyrieleis, Führer durch das Heraion von Samos (Athen, 1981).
• T. Panofka, Res Samiorum (Berlin, 1822).
• Pauly-Wissowa (in German, on Antiquity)
• T. J. Quinn, Athens and Samos, Chios and Lesbos (Manchester, 1981).
• G. Shipley, A History of Samos 800–188 BC (Oxford, 1987).
• R. Tölle-Kastenbein, Herodot und Samos (Bochum, 1976).
• H. F. Tozer, Islands of the Aegean (London, 1890).
• K. Tsakos, Samos: A Guide to the History and Archaeology (Athens, 2003).
• H. Walter, Das Heraion von Samos (München, 1976).
• Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)

Volumes of the Samos series of archaeological reports published by the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.

• 1. V. Milojčić, Die prähistorische Siedlung unter dem Heraion (Bonn, 1961).
• 2. R. C. S. Felsch, Das Kastro Tigani (Bonn, 1988).
• 3. A. E. Furtwängler, Der Nordbau im Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1989).
• 4. H. P. Isler, Das archaische Nordtor und seine Umgebung im Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1978).
• 5. H. Walter, Frühe samische Gefäße (Bonn, 1968).
• 6.1. E. Walter-Karydi, Samische Gefäße des 6. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. (Bonn, 1973).
• 7. G. Schmidt, Kyprische Bildwerke aus dem Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1968).
• 8. U. Jantzen, Ägyptische und orientalische Bronzen aus dem Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1972).
• 9. U. Gehrikg, with G. Schneider, Die Greifenprotomen aus dem Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 2004).
• 10. H. Kyrieleis, Der große Kuros von Samos (Bonn, 1996).
• 11. B. Freyer-Schauenburg, Bildwerke der archaischen Zeit und des strengen Stils (Bonn, 1974).
• 12. R. Horn, Hellenistische Bildwerke auf Samos (Bonn, 1972).
• 14. R. Tölle-Kastenbein, Das Kastro Tigani (Bonn, 1974).
• 15. H. J. Kienast, Die Stadtmauer von Samos (Bonn, 1978).
• 16. W. Martini, Das Gymnasium von Samos (Bonn, 1984).
• 17. W. Martini and C. Streckner, Das Gymnasium von Samos: das frühbyzantinische Klostergut (Bonn, 1993).
• 18. V. Jarosch, Samische Tonfiguren aus dem Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1994).
• 19. H. J. Kienast, Die Wasserleitung des Eupalinos auf Samos (Bonn, 1995).
• 20. U. Jantzen with W. Hautumm, W.-R. Megow, M. Weber, and H. J. Kienast, Die Wasserleitung des Eupalinos: die Funde (Bonn, 2004).
• 22. B. Kreuzer, Die attisch schwarzfigurige Keramik aus dem Heraion von Samos (Bonn, 1998).
• 24.1. T. Schulz with H. J. Kienast, Die römischen Tempel im Heraion von Samos: die Prostyloi (Bonn, 2002).
• 25. C. Hendrich, Die Säulenordnung des ersten Dipteros von Samos (Bonn, 2007).

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samos Island.

• Samos travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipality of Samos
• Visit Samos