Heraion of Samos

Heraion of Samos
Ηραίο Σάμου
Heraion in Samos, Greece.
Heraion of Samos is located in Greece
Heraion of Samos
Shown within Greece
LocationSamos, Greece
Coordinates37°40′19″N 26°53′08″E / 37.67194°N 26.88556°E / 37.67194; 26.88556
TypeSanctuary
History
CulturesAncient Greece
Official namePythagoreion and Heraion of Samos
TypeCultural
Criteriaii, iii
Designated1992 (16th session)
Reference no.595
RegionEurope and North America
Site plan of the sanctuary. The numbers match the bold numerals in the text of the article

The Heraion of Samos was a large sanctuary to the goddess Hera, on the island of Samos, Greece, 6 km southwest of the ancient city of Samos (modern Pythagoreion). It was located in the low, marshy basin of the Imbrasos river, near where it enters the sea. The late Archaic temple in the sanctuary was the first of the gigantic free-standing Ionic temples, but its predecessors at this site reached back to the Geometric Period of the 8th century BC,[1] or earlier.[2] The ruins of the temple, along with the nearby archeological site of Pythagoreion, were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1992, as a testimony to their exceptional architecture and to the mercantile and naval power of Samos during the Archaic Period.[3]

  1. ^ Cypriote terracotta votive objects date as early as the late 8th century (Gerhard Schmidt, Kyprische Bildwerke aus dem Heraion von Samos, (Samos, vol. VII) 1968).
  2. ^ "The inconspicuous beginnings of the altar may perhaps date back to late Mycenaean times" observes the Heraion's excavator, Helmut Kyrieleis, in Kyrielis (1993), p. 128.
  3. ^ "Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

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