Heraion of Samos

The Heraion of Samos is the famous in antiquity the sanctuary of the Greek goddess Hera ( " Heraion " ) on the island of Samos.

The place of the sanctuary was settled BC since the early Bronze Age in the 3rd millennium. The location of the settlement in the fertile plain at the river mouth into the sea was ideal. As a result of land subsidence by about 0.5 m at the end of the 2nd millennium BC and the resulting increase in groundwater level colonization was probably ultimately abandoned due to silting.

That the sanctuary of Hera later evolved into a topographically rather unfavorable situation in the marshy plain to a major asset, could be due to an older cult which was associated, at least in the tradition of the place. According to a local legend, Hera had been under a Lygosbaum, who was in the area of the sanctuary, was born. During the excavations of the remains of the Bronze Age sanctuary, a place of worship was a tree stump found on the legend could go back.

The since the 7th century BC ever-increasing importance of the sanctuary and the city reached its peak in the 6th century BC In addition to the Heraion of Argos, the most important sanctuary of the goddess stood on Samos. In Samian Heraion excavated votive trade contacts with witness all over the known world to the Greeks.

Temple

The first monumental temple with a double row of columns ( the Dipteros I) was built by the architect Theodoros around 575 BC, from local limestone. The first Dipteros had only two or three decades after the start of construction due to serious, to be abandoned by the marshy ground or foundation damage caused by an earthquake. The new building, which Dipteros II, was probably fundamentalised of Rhoikos from about 530 BC at its core largely on limestone spolia from the old building, the inner pillar consisted of Porosschäften and marble capitals and bases, only the outer ring of columns was around 500 v. Chr. entirely made ​​of marble. The Dipteros II was, according to Herodotus once the largest temple in Greece.

Since 1925, the Heraion is one of the fixed excavations of Athens Department of the German Archaeological Institute; the work was due to the second world war interrupted but resumed in 1951 and continued until today. The results of the excavations have been published, there is a separate series ' Samos ' of the German Archaeological Institute, in which the architecture and Fundundkomplexe ( ceramic, stone, faience, ivory, metals, wood) in the various cultural layers, and thus the chronology of ancient site are representing.

The Heraion was explained along with the ancient city, now Pythagorion, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both are witnesses to the long history of the island of Samos.

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