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At the mouth of the river Imvrassos, in the southeastern
Info:
Open: Tuesday-Sunday, 08.00-15.00
Τρίτη-Κυριακή, 08.00-15.00
Tickets - Εισιτήρια:
Full - Κανονικό: 6€
Reduced - Μειωμένο: 3€
Special ticket package - Ενιαίο:
Full - Κανονικό: 13€
Reduced - Μειωμένο: 7€
Tel.: +30 22730 62813
132 GREC14N 2018
region of the island, lies the remains of the Temple of
Hera, which construction started in 540 BC. It is suggest-
ed, though, that the area was already sacred in the late My-
cenaean era. Actually, there, in the same area, were found
traces of an ancient female cult of Hera – or maybe of a
goddess identical to her – dating back to the Late Bronze
Age. If you are wondering why the ancient Greeks chose
this particular place to build the Ireon (a.k.a. Heraion),
Greek mythology has it that Hera, Zeus’ wife, goddess of
fertility and family life, not only was born there, under a
wicker, but she also married at the same place the father
of Gods. It is common for the religious edifices to be con-
structed over other buildings with the same usage because
of the sacristy of the site. So, in the 8th c. BC a temple
100 feet in length was built there, and about 150 years
later another one, but more elaborate, was constructed
over the foundations of the first. Part of its carved frieze
can be seen in the Archaeological Museum of Samos.
The Temple of Roikos, dedicated to Hera and named
after the great sculptor and architect who supervised the
construction, was built on-site in 570-560 BC. It was a
large dipteral Ionic edifice, a model of this rhythm, but the
ground couldn’t support it, and it was destroyed only a
few years later. The huge outdoor altar had the same fate
and collapsed over time. In 540 BC, the architects Theodoros and Telecles began the
construction of a new Ireon, and that was the great temple Herodotus had hymned
as the greatest and most impressive in Greece. The Ireon was connected with the
ancient city of Samos with the Sacred Way and it had great political and religious
significance. In both sides of the Sacred Way were dedicative items, male and female
statues (Kouroi and Korai), sculptures and temples of other gods and goddesses,
like Isis. Many of these findings are standing in the Archaeological Museum of the
island. Today, only a column half in height of the original survives standing from one
of the most important sanctuaries in the ancient world – which was never actually
completed, for political and technical reasons. The Romans made repairs and built
there a small new temple dedicated to both Hera and Livia (the wife of Octavianus
Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome). In the late 2nd c. AD, Pausanias described
already the temple as ruins, the locals started to use even more parts of it to construct
other buildings, and later a church at the same spot, until it was almost vanished –
the vegetation and the riverbed aggradation helped a lot. In the 18th c., Joseph Pitton
de Tournefort unearthed several finds and in the next century Paul Girard discovered
the first statue, a dedication of Cheramyes to the Goddess (the Cheramyes Korai,
with inscription). Systematic excavations started in the early 20th c., and soon the
splendour and the significance of the Ireon were known worldwide. The excavations
are continuous since 1951. Στις εκβολές του Ίμβρασου, στα νοτιοανατολικά του
νησιού, βρίσκονται τα ερείπια του Ναού της Ήρας, η κατασκευή του οποίου
ξεκίνησε το 540 π.Χ. Έχει ωστόσο διατυπωθεί η άποψη ότι η περιοχή θεωρούνταν
ιερή ήδη από την ύστερη Μυκηναϊκή περίοδο. Πράγματι, υπάρχουν ενδείξεις
λατρείας μιας αρχαίας θηλυκής θεότητας –της Ήρας ή ίσως μιας θεάς που
ταυτιζόταν με εκείνη– από την ύστερη Εποχή του Χαλκού. Αν αναρωτιέστε γιατί
οι αρχαίοι Έλληνες επέλεξαν το συγκεκριμένο μέρος για να χτίσουν το Ηραίον, η
ελληνική μυθολογία αφηγείται ότι η Ήρα, σύζυγος του Δία, θεά της γονιμότητας
και της οικογενειακής ζωής, όχι μόνο γεννήθηκε στο συγκεκριμένο σημείο, κάτω
από μια λυγαριά, αλλά και παντρεύτηκε στο ίδιο μέρος τον πατέρα των θεών.
Είναι κοινός τόπος τα θρησκευτικά οικοδομήματα να ανεγείρονται σε μέρη όπου