Pythagorion's most famous son

I suspect we can all guess who Pythagorion's most famous son is, but most of us probably didn't know he was a Samian. I refer of course to the man whose theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Statue of Pythagoras demonstrating his theorem

A statue of Pythagoras adorns the modern Pythagorio waterfront. People look at it and photograph it while muttering the famous right-angled triangle rule to themselves, but I wonder how many realise Pythagoras of Samos was as famous in his own day as a philosopher as a mathematician. The irony is that many of the accomplishments credited to Pythagoras may actually have been accomplishments of his colleagues or successors. Also that it was Pythagoras who styled himself as a philosopher. I don't suppose it really matters much since almost every schoolchild the world over knows the name of Pythagoras today, so genius or charlatan his name has stood the test of time.

Roman baths and athletic area

Walking into modern day Pythagorio, the ancient Samian city of Pythagorion, from our holiday accommodation we would pass the ruins of a second century Roman leisure centre, Thermes.

Roman baths area

I refer to the site as a leisure centre because for me the Thermes was rather more than a bath complex. These Roman baths included an extensive complex of public buildings and baths, which included the gymnasium, the stadium and the palaestra (wrestling school). Next to the main entrance of the baths, there were vestiaires for visitors. The cold water pool and the octagonal pool were located on the northern side of the Thermes, while the hot rooms with an under-floor system for the water heating were located on the southern side.

Sadly I was unable to gain entry to the baths area and was only able to take photographs from the roadway, but as can be seen it must have been an impressive sight in its heyday.

The site included a vaulted room used as a sauna, which was turned into a Christian baptistery in the 5^th century AD. That period, a three-aisled basilica with mosaics on the floor was constructed around this baptistery. The walls of the Roman baths were decorated with marble, while the floors were covered with mosaics depicting various scenes.

Adjacent to the baths was the stadium and wrestling school (top right of the image below).

I was able to gain access to this area, which now forms part of the grounds of a hotel complex.

Part of the wrestling school and stadium

As  you can see some of the original construction is still in remarkably good condition.

I think it a shame that a hotel was allowed to be built on what is really such an important archaeological site.

The remains of various chambers can be seen and explored - I was not able to find information explaining what these rooms were originally used for.

I am disturbed by the use the hotel is currently making of pieces of stone removed from the ancient buildings.

Stone removed to make tables and seats

To me it seems very wrong that items are being removed from an archaeological site and used to provide holidaymakers with somewhere to enjoy drinks and snacks.

A Rusty Usky moment

Walking down to the beach at Potokaki to the west of Pythagoreio, you pass by the Almyra Resort Hotel and leaning against a wall was something that really caught me eye.

Ship's Anchor

This old anchor is at least 3 metres tall so is very long, but the flukes by comparison are quite small.

I've no idea where the anchor was used; it has obviously been recovered from the seabed and has some interesting calcification amid the oxidisation.

The anchor looks to me as if it had been colonised by coral as well as barnacles and gastropods.

Pretty neat isn't it? A good Rusty Usky find. 😉

Lunch on a line

I've just spent a very relaxing two weeks on the Aegean island of Samos, which as you may or may not know is famed for being the birthplace of the mathematician Pythagoras and the philosopher Epicurus. Samos is also famed for its production of the excellent sweet Muscat wine. But enough of the cultural stuff, let's talk about something very close to my heart... food!

Walking around the harbour side of Pythagoreio, yes that is where Pythagoras was born, on the first morning of our holiday I spotted this:

Octopus drying in the sun

Can you guess where I had my lunch? Bet you can't guess what I had though can you? 😄