Samos is an island with unique natural beauties which combines history and tradition with it. On the northeast side of the island of Samos, the island s capital. Built amphitheatrically along the perimeter of a large bay, next to the harbour, it pleasantly predisposes the visitor with its Aegean colour, its neoclassical coastal zone and the beautiful beaches that surround it. Although small in size, Samos island is known throughout the world for its wine. The island is remarkably fertile. It is an island with green mountains, endless vineyards, which produce the famous samiotiko wine, and lacy shores.
Samos island economy depends mainly on the tourist industry which has been growing steadily since the early 1980s. The main agricultural products include honey, grapes, olive oil, olives, dried figs, citrus fruit, almonds and flowers. The Muscat Grape is the main crop used for wine production. Samian wine, known primarily though the sweet Muscat type, is also exported in several other appellations. Samian wines have won prestigious international and domestic awards. Samos is also known for its folk art and produces beautiful pottery, ceramics, rugs, bags made of goat wool and woven fabrics with beautiful designs and colours and which are made on local looms. The island has two principal ports, Karlovassi and Samos (Vathy), which serve the tourist industry (during summer) and the needs of commerce for the whole island (throughout the year). Samos is easily reached by ferry from Pireaus .There is also every day connections to kusadasi-Turkey.
You can also find nowhere else in the Aegean with higher mountains than Samos. It is a hilly island. It has two mountains, the wild and rocky Mount Kerki of 1443m height and the verdant Mount Ambelos or Mount Karvouni of 1160m height. Mount Kerkis in Samos is ideal for climbing, and so this somewhat limits the number of those who are able to enjoy its wild beauty, while Mount Karvounis, which is more accessible, can be visited by everyone young and old a like.The high mountains contribute to the many rainfalls that shower the island in the wintertime. This is the reason for the lush vegetation of Samos and the many rich freshwater springs. These were the reasons for the name “Hydrele” (meaning rich in water) that Samos had in ancient times.
Samos has superb gulfs and picturesque gulfs, with crystal waters and sandy beaches, perfect for swimming and relaxing. With the natural magnificence of the endless beaches will charm and surprise you, each more beautiful and next. Organized with sand or pebbles and greenery that down to the beach, they will enchant you.
Beaches that await you with never before experienced delights whose memory remains indelible.
Possidonion, Mykali, Aghia Markela, Roditses, Malagari, Kotsikas, Mourtia, Megalo Seitani, Mikro Seitani, Potami, Beach of Ormos and Velanidia, Karlovassi, Tsambou and Vlendza, Tsamadou, Lemonakia, Kokkari, Gangou, Kerveli, Psili Ammos, Pythagorion, Potokaki, Hereon, Tsopela, Karbovolo and Glicoriza, Papa beach, Balos, Votsalakia, Limnionas, Samiopoula, Avlakia....
The lovely coastal village Pythagorion ,Hraion Chora ,Pyrgos....Marathokampos …. Karlovasi and of course kokkari...are full of whitewashed houses with blue shutters and doors. In Vathy, Venetian houses are mixed to neoclassical ones and all the buildings have red-tiled roofs and some have their walls painted in bright colours. A small picturesque road links the present day port to Vathi, the old traditional settlement.
We can say in all seriously that Samos is truly an ideal place for holidays .In Samos everywhere provides an invitation to visitor because what ever their interests are, they will be catered for.
In ancient times, Samos, although small, played a trully significant role in culture and politics, not only for the region of Ionia, but for the entire ancient GreeceIn the times of Polycrates, Samos became the center of the Ionian civilization. Various important monuments were constructed, such as the Eupalinion Tunnel, the temple of Hera, open-air theaters, as well as palaces, which Roman emperor Caligula tried to restore much later. In addition, Polycrates was the first to establish a library containing all significant texts produced by the human spirit up-till then.
His royal court used to be a spiritual center offering hospitality to the top intellectuals of the world of his time. He had created a very powerful navy and his fleet used to be the leading one in the Aegean Sea being comprised by fast war-ships called Samenas. According to Herodotus, the predominant city-states of the sea were three: Knossos of king Minos (15th century BC), Samos (6th century BC) and Athens (5th century BC). Therefore Polycrates had rendered Samos a leading city-state among the Greeks and the Barbarians. He was also the first who tried to unite all Greeks against the Persians.
Following Polycrates’ assasination in 522 BC, many wars took place and Samos was the focal point of the conflicts between the Greeks and the Persians. It was finally devastated by the Athenians under Pericles in 439 BC after a siege that lasted for several months.
In the time of Alexander the Great, and during the Roman period, no significant events took place that were important enough to be mentioned.
At ancient times, Samos pushed forward numerous eminent men and women in all spiritual domains, the leading one being Pythagoras, the greatest philosopher and mathematician through the centuries.
Distinguished Samians include Aristarchus, who put forward the idea of an heliocentric system several centuries before Copernicus, Agatharchus, a great painter who was the first to deal with scenography and perspective, Theodore, an eminent artist and architect, Aesop, the famous myth-maker, Damo, philosopher, daughter of Pythagoras, Kolaeus, who was the first to travel to the Atlantic and many others.
It is not easy to find anywhere else in the world with a historical and social heritage of such influence as that of Samos. In Samos you'll relax. You'll feel unique renewed, and you'll come back again and again
