"Palaiopolis, the Ancient City - Samothraki island" Palaiopolis by StefanosS

Alternative spellings:
Palaiopoli(s), Palaiapoli(s), Paleopoli(s), Paleapoli(s)

For more info about the island of Samothraki, please start with my Samothraki Island page.

To the north of Chora is Paleopoli, the Archaic and Hellenistic center of the island, where there are still ruins of the ancient city and the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. The landscape is covered in plane-trees, olives and oleanders. This is where the Kabeirian Mysteries took place, probably aiming to secure life after death. There is no precise information, since the initiated were not allowed to talk about these ceremonies. Unfortunately, the island’s jewel for centuries, the statue of Niki (=Victory) of Samothraki, is for the last 150 years in the Louvre Museum, a fact that the islanders seem to not have gotten over yet.

The Sanctuary is located to the west of the ancient city outside the Walls. The earliest building activity on the site dates as early as the 7th century BC but the imposing permanent structures started in the first half of the 4th century BC and were built, mainly, in the 3rd century BC, but continued until the early Roman Imperial period.

You should definitely visit the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, which is "hidden" among dense flora, as well as the Museum, located nearby; it keeps a copy of the statue of "Niki of Samothraki" (winged woman's statue) and other ancient artifacts. A bit further you can see the ruins of another Gattilusi castle.

EXCAVATIONS HISTORY
In 1854 Ernst Otto Blau and Konstantin Schlottmann start excavating the site of the Sanctuary of the Kabeiri. In 1858 Alexander Conze writes down the visible monuments and many ancient and Byzantine inscriptions. In 1863 Charles Francois Noel Champoiseau, the French vice consul at Edirne, discovers the statue of "Niki of Samothraki" after excavations of rather plundering than scientific purposes and takes it to Paris. In 1866 Napoleon III sends Gustave Deville and Ernest George Coquart to continue the excavations. Austrian missions in 1873 and 1875 under Alexander Conze carry out the first systematic scientific excavations. The findings of 1873 are driven to Wien while the findings of 1875 are delivered to the Turks in Gallipoli but most of them are "lost" during the transportation to Istanbul. Champoiseau comes two more times in 1879 to take the basement of the statue and in 1891 to find the head of the statue. On this time the Samothracian medical doctor N. V. Fardys who had studied in France was interested on the antiquities of his homeland and made some test excavations in different locations. Thanks to him some findings were saved in his personal collection and later were donated to the Greek State.

After liberation and after the First World War, in 1923 a French-Czech mission starts new excavations and four years later they make a second effort. Since 1938 the research passed to the Fine Arts Institute of the New York University under Karl Lehmann and his successor J. R. McCredie. Karl Lehmann with his wide aspect has put his personal sign on the archaeological activities.

What you can see today is what was preserved on the island after all this story. The archaeological site of Paleopoli is extremely interesting due to the number and type of ancient buildings along with the artefacts found, demonstrating the island's long history. The Sanctuary consists of two Temples dedicated to the Kabeiri (4th and 5th centuries BC), a Stoa (west side), and Arsinoeio (north side) - a circular structure dedicated by king Lysimachos to his wife, Arsinoe (288-270BC). To the east lies the Ptolemaeio, built by Ptolemy II of Egypt. The Walls, remains of the ancient city, dating between 6th and 3rd century BC, are to be found on higher ground. Two towers of the Castle complex of the Gattilusi family (1430 AD) survive at the NW extreme of the Ancient Walls.

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Gattilusi castle at Paleopoli

The island of Samothraki became famous to the Greek world during the classical period because of the mystic rites that took place on it. The worship of the Great Gods included the Kabeirian Mysteries, equally important to the Mysteries of Elefsis. The religious importance of the island as a Panhellenic temple was so great that it was called "Delos of the Northern Aegean". The origin of these Great Gods and Mysteries dates back to the pre-hellenic tribes. When the island was colonised by the Greeks, elements of pre-hellenic and hellenic worship were incorporated. Later Samothraki attracted pilgrims-visitors from the whole Greek world. The worship of the Great Gods (who did not belong to the Greek Pantheon) included ceremonies and mysteries, initiation to which was independent of social status, age or nationality. Those where the only mysteries open to anybody, men, women, slaves, both Greek and non-Greek.

The exact identity of the deities known under the pre-hellenic name Kabeiri (or the Great Gods) is still a problem, as their names were secret. The latin inscription found speaks by itself: "Deorum sacra qui non acceperunt non intrant". Some researchers propose the Semitic word "kabir" (plural "kabirim") meaning "almighty", a word not far from the meaning of "The Great Gods". Only one ancient written source reveals the names Axieros, Axiokersos, Axiokersa and Kasmilos (or Kadmilos) who in the 4th century BC were identified respectively to the Greek gods Demetra, Persefoni, Hades and Hermes. The basic character was the deity of Mother-Earth (Axieros, deity of fertility) with her husband (Kadmilos, the male side of fertility) and their twin children (Axiokersos the male and Axiokersa the female). The basic idea was the eternity through the cycle of death and recreation, probably aiming to secure life after death. Mother-Earth was a mountaineer deity worshiped also at other sacred rocks and caves.

In addition to the worship of the Great Gods, it is known from insciptions that the worship of Athena, Aphrodite and Demeter also took place in this sacred area.

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To the honor of Karl Lehmann

The Archaeological Museum in Paleopoli which containts findings from excavations on the island, is worth a visit.

It was designed by the architect Steward M. Shaw, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and built by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in the years 1939-1955. The north wing was added later, in 1960-61.

The museum has four rooms and an atrium and houses:
 Room A:
the reconstructed architectural parts from the buildings of the sanctuary
 Room B:
restored architectural parts, sculptures and coins found in the sanctuary
 Room C:
sculpture, miniature objects, and pottery from the sanctuary and the ancient city
 Room D:
finds from the cemeteries and a copy of the statue of "Niki of Samothraki".
 Atrium:
collection of engraved inscriptions

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