Two things that the ancient Greeks did better than anyone are on show on this corner of Samos, and one of them is a tunnel. In the sixth century BC, the tyrant Polycrates ruled the island, and he commissioned an engineer from Megara, Eupalinos, to bring water to his capital through a mountain. The tunnel is about a kilometre long, and Eupalinos had his workers dig from both ends at once, meeting in the middle with an error of only a few metres, which is a stunning achievement for the time. Visitors can walk through a part of it today, in a hard hat, and the sloping channel for water still runs beside the walkway.
The second wonder is the Heraion, the sanctuary of Hera, a few kilometres along the coast. The goddess was said to have been born on Samos, beside a river in a marshy hollow, and the shrine here was one of the largest temples in the Greek world. Today only a single column stands, rising from a field of foundations and scattered stones, but the scale of the base shows how grand it was. A sacred way once ran to the temple from the town, lined with statues, and the harbour of Pythagoreion, named after the philosopher Pythagoras, who was born on Samos in the sixth century BC, still has the remains of its ancient mole. The two sites together were inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1992.
Samos is a green, mountainous island, and its roads are a pleasure. The route from Pythagoreion to Vathy and on to the north coast climbs through pine woods and vineyards, with views of the Turkish coast just a few kilometres across the strait. The island is famous for its sweet muscat wine, made from the grapes that ripen on the terraced slopes, and for thyme honey. The surface is generally good but with occasional loose gravel, and goats appear on the road without warning. May and late September are the best times, and in the high summer the heat and the meltemi, the dry northerly wind, can be strong.
Pythagoreion is a small place of about thirteen hundred people with a pretty harbour and several tavernas. The ferries bring bikes from the mainland, and Samos town has petrol stations, a larger shopping area and more services. Eat grilled fish at the harbour and drink a cold glass of the local wine.