Ηραίο Σάμου | |
 Heraion in Samos, Greece. | |
  Shown within Greece | |
| Location | Samos, Greece |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°40′19″N 26°53′08″E / 37.67194°N 26.88556°E |
| Type | Sanctuary |
| History | |
| Cultures | Ancient Greece |
| Official name | Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii |
| Designated | 1992 (16th session) |
| Reference no. | 595 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
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], and there is evidence of cult activities on the site from c. 1700 BC onwards[3]: 22 . 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.[4]
- ^ 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).
- ^ "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.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
pierattini2022was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 25 November 2022.