Pythagorio

Pythagorio

Second week in Samos and I am going to present you the "Pythagorio", a wonderful small town with great history and a tourist resort. Pythagorio is the birthplace of the most important man in history for me. It is the birthplace of Pythagoras, a great philosopher and mathematician. Pythagorio has his name and it is famous all around the world. Pythagorio is also the birth place of my father and a home land for me as my father has offered me a special home there.

Welcome to my home!!! Enjoy the morning coffee with the view of my balcony. A big palm tree stands outside my home for many years... long ago before I was born.

Pythagorio honors a great philosopher and an important for the world history person, Pythagoras. I am sure that most of you have learned at your school years about his theory about the triangle but Pythagoras was more than a mathematician. Pythagoras changed the path of the history with his philosophy about the harmony of the numbers. As you know I am not fun of the numbers. I am a person who loves colors and sounds but I believe that when you study the Pythagorian philosophy you will find many answers for your existence questions. I have to admit it... I am fun of Pythagoras! Pythagoras was born on Samos. He was born to Pythais (his mother, a native of Samos) and Mnesarchus (his father, a Phoenician merchant from Tyre ). As a young man, he left his native city for Croton, Calabria, in Southern Italy, to escape the tyrannical government of Polycrates. According to Iamblichus, Thales, impressed with his abilities, advised Pythagoras to head to Memphis in Egypt and study with the priests there who were renowned for their wisdom. He also was discipled in the temples of Tyre and Byblos in Phoenicia. It may have been in Egypt where he learned some geometric principles which eventually inspired his formulation of the theorem that is now called by his name. Upon his migration from Samos to Croton, Calabria, Italy, Pythagoras established a secret religious society very similar to (and possibly influenced by) the earlier Orphic cult. Pythagoras undertook a reform of the cultural life of Croton, urging the citizens to follow virtue and form an elite circle of followers around himself called Pythagoreans. Very strict rules of conduct governed this cultural center. He opened his school to male and female students alike. Those who joined the inner circle of Pythagoras's society called themselves the Mathematikoi . They lived at the school, owned no personal possessions and were required to assume a vegetarian diet. Other students who lived in neighboring areas were also permitted to attend Pythagoras's school. Known as Akousmatikoi , these students were permitted to eat meat and own personal belongings. According to Iamblichus, the Pythagoreans followed a structured life of religious teaching, common meals, exercise, reading and philosophical study. Music featured as an essential organizing factor of this life: the disciples would sing hymns to Apollo together regularly; they used the lyre to cure illness of the soul or body; poetry recitations occurred before and after sleep to aid the memory. The Pythagoreans are known for their theory of the transmigration of souls, and also for their theory that numbers constitute the true nature of things. They performed purification rites and followed and developed various rules of living which they believed would enable their soul to achieve a higher rank among the gods. Much of their mysticism concerning the soul seem inseparable from the Orphic tradition. The Orphics advocated various purificatory rites and practices as well as incubatory rites of descent into the underworld. Pythagoras is also closely linked with Pherecydes of Syros, the man ancient commentators tend to credit as the first Greek to teach a transmigration of souls. Ancient commentators agree that Pherekydes was Pythagoras's most intimate teacher. Pherekydes expounded his teaching on the soul in terms of a pentemychos ("five-nooks", or "five hidden cavities") — the most likely origin of the Pythagorean use of the pentagram, used by them as a symbol of recognition among members and as a symbol of inner health ( ugieia ). Pythagoras was interested in music and the Pythagoreans were musicians as well as mathematicians. He wanted to improve the music of his day, which he believed was not harmonious enough and was too chaotic. According to legend, the way Pythagoras discovered that musical notes could be translated into mathematical equations was one day as he passed blacksmiths at work, and thought that the sounds emanating from their anvils being hit were beautiful and harmonious and decided that whatever scientific law caused this to happen must be mathematical and could be applied to music. He went to the blacksmiths to learn how this had happened by looking at their tools. He discovered that it was because the anvils were "simple ratios of each other, one was half the size of the first, another was 2/3 the size, and so on." The Pythagoreans elaborated on a theory of numbers, the exact meaning of which is still debated among scholars. Pythagoras believed in something called the harmony of the spheres. He believed that since planets and the stars all moved in the universe according to mathematical equations that these mathematical equations could be translated into musical notes and thus produce a symphony.

Pythagorio today is a very beautiful town and the capital of the Municipality of Pythagorio . It is a beautiful picturesque town, ideal for the stay in the island during your holidays. I really recommend it to all of you. It can offer you calm and peace of mind. The port of Pythagorio, constructed during the reign of Polikrates, is the oldest manmade port of the Mediterranean. Today thousands of yachts sail there all year round. The Municipal Services of Pythagorio provide the yachts with fuel, electricity, water and telephone. It also offers information for the sites of the island, cultural events, local festivals and accommodation. Pythagorio boast more than 5500 hotel and motel beds. The port of Pythagorio with more than 60 local tavernas, bars, cafes and nightclubs is considered as the best nightlife hotspot of Samos . Every morning hundreds of visitors sail from Pythagorio towards the Coasts of Asia Minor and the ancient Greek Cities of Ionia.

There are also daily excursions with the typical Greek boats, the kaiki, to the amazing remote beaches of Samiopoula, Tsopela, Kako Rema, Kiriakou, Aspros Kavos and others. Amongst the picturesque narrow roads of Pythagorio we find unique neoclassical buildings, the ruins of the ancient Samos, the Square with the town hall and the archeological collection of the town. Other sites of in and out of Pythagorio are: the statue of Pythagoras the Castle of Likourgos the Church of Metamorphosis the Efpalinos Tunnel the Church of Spiliani with its chapel in the cave the Roman Baths and the lake of Glifada

For Samos , the 6th of August is a local holiday. The center of celebration is the Pythagorio and for this year we have the luck to enjoy a long weekend at the island. I recommend to those who plan to visit some time the island to be here during these 2 days, 5th and 6th of August. The island celebrates the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ and the victory against the Ottoman Empire . The Church of Transfiguration of Jesus Christ in Pythagorio with its bells drums the start of the celebration. The young girls dressed with the local samian costumes and the Greek soldiers are ready to pay their respect to the great event.

A warship at the harbor of Pythagorio is here to honor the event and pay its respect for the lives that have lost during the Naval battle on 1824. On 1824 A.C. and after 3 years of revolution in which Samos participated with all its strength in land and sea the greek nation continue to fight. At the crucial time in our history, a navy battle drove us close to the liberation and the gain of our freedom. Despite its proximity to Asia Minor, Samos throughout the Greek struggle for independence was a Greek stronghold for the control of the southeast Aegean. The leading figure of the Revolution was Likourgos Logothetis, members of the secret organization, Philiki Etaireia. The 18th of April 1821 the Samians under the command of Kostantinos Lahanas raised the flag of the revolution in Pigadakia of Vathi. Thanks to their good organization the revolutionaries successfully defended the island from numerous Turkish attacks. One of the most important defense structure used was the Castle of Likourgos in Pythagorio. The 5th of July 1821 the Turks tried to invaded from the promontory Georgis east of Pythagorio, where they encountered heroic resistance for few Samians under the command of Kapetan Stamati. The Turks were annihilated and since that day the promontory is called Phonias, killer. The 5th of August 1824 in the straits of Mykali the Turkish fleet, under the leadership of Hosref, was defeated by the Greek fleet under the command of Georgios Sahtouris. Kanaris with his incendiary vessel blew up the Turkish flagship in the Eptastadios Porthmos. The next day, the 6th of August, the day of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ the Greeks celebrated their victory and latter constructed the church of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ next to the castle of Licourgos in memory of this great victory. The 24th until the 29th August 1824 in the nearby gulf of Gerodas the greatest sea battle of the Revolution took place. The Greek fleet with just 70 ships and under the leadership of Andreas Miaoulis, vanquished the Turkish-Egyptian fleet numbering triple the amount of vessels.

The straits of Mykali, the place where the naval battle happened... the today borders between Greece and Turkey.

The night comes to Pythagorio but... the party is ready to begin. People from all over the island have come to watch and many of them to participate at the great event... the redo of the naval battle of 1824 at Mykali of Samos.

Every year at the night of 5th of August Samos celebrates the anniversary of the Naval Battle of Mykali with a great "Redo" of the battle. The navy ships (the boats of the town) decorated and filled by the islanders and the tourists who enjoy every year to participate at the event. The lights switch off the battle starts inside the harbor of Pythagorio. The Greeks fight for their freedom and the flagship of the Ottoman Empire are blasted by the Greek armada and the Samians who combat from the land of Samos.

We succeeded and we celebrate the great victory. Let the firewalls begin... and the dark night has been an extravaganza of colors and lights.

After the firewalls it was time for our dinner beside the sea. My cousin George, my aunt Yiota and I, enjoyed seafood and our ouzo in a wonderful place feeling and smelling the breath of the Aegean. But... the night had not finished yet for us and the rest of the people who were there celebrating the big day.

It was time for Greek music and Greek dance. The City of Pythagorio had organized a music night at the dock of the harbor under Pythagoras glance. It was a wonderful night which lasted until the sunset of the new day. Chronia Polla to Samos and to Pythagorio!