Pythagoreion

Pythagoreion occupies the site of the ancient capital of Samos, renamed for Pythagoras, who was born on the island around 570 BC. Under the tyrant Polycrates in the sixth century BC the city built three works that Herodotus called the greatest in the Greek world: a harbour mole still underlying the modern breakwater, a tunnel over a kilometre long bored through a mountain to carry water, and the great temple of Hera across the plain. UNESCO inscribed the town together with the Heraion in 1992. The modern village around the old harbour is a pleasant, low-rise resort with fish tavernas, a castle built in the nineteenth century by a local leader, a Roman bath complex, and a small archaeological museum, with the ancient walls climbing the hill behind.

What you actually see

• The ancient harbour - the sixth-century BC mole beneath the modern quay.
• The city walls - fortifications climbing the hillside above the town.
• The Roman baths - excavated thermal buildings near the shore.
• The harbour village - a low-rise resort around the old port.

When to go

Spring and autumn for comfortable sightseeing; summer brings package visitors and heat, though the harbour front stays pleasant in the evening. Individual monuments keep different hours.

Honest expectations

The monuments are scattered and separately ticketed, and some are fenced. The modern village is a working resort rather than an archaeological park. Add the Eupalinos tunnel and the Heraion to make a full day.

Nearby

The Eupalinos tunnel is on the hill above; the Heraion lies 6 km west across the plain.