To me Samos has always remained something of an enigma. Had Edgar visited, I’m sure he could have found plenty of inspiration to write a dozen or so variations. If you can imagine an island composed entirely of curves without a straight line in sight, then you have arrived on Samos and at the first enigma. Pythagoras was born on the island and, in the course of his lifetime, developed a theorem which has given school children nightmares for centuries. Curiously, his theorem is entirely to do with straight lines, right angles and triangles which are conspicuous by their total absence from the island.
Lying close to the coast of Turkey, Samos is a compact island which curiously has borrowed so little from its near neighbour. There might be the odd species of flower and the odd dish of food but little else. There was a time, going back a couple of millennia, when there were no particular boundaries and it was all part of the same civilisation. The Temple of Hera, one of the very early wonders of the world, remains on Samos as a reminder of those more illustrious days. Moving towards modern times, there was a distinct break in the continuity of its history.
Vineyards on the northern slopes of Mount Ambelos
In about 1457, under severe pressure from piracy, Samos was totally evacuated. and remained so for about 85 years. As always, some remained and took refuge in the hills. They built primitive castles in inaccessible places. The finest and most romantic of these is Kastro Louloudes, the Castle of Flowers. Steps cut into a severe rock face provides the only access. When I first visited the island back in 1987, the castle was marked on all the maps but nobody seemed to know where to find it. After a couple of fruitless days searching in the mountainous area where the castle was indicated on maps, I got around to asking locals in the nearby village of Vourliotes. They were able to pinpoint the actual peak for me but warned I would never find it. I was about to give up again after another two wasted days when the goatherd approached and said only two words ‘Kastro Louloudes.’ He was off like a shot as he marched around the north side of the peak where I had previously searched. He stopped, pointed and abruptly left. Looking at the rock face where he had pointed left me totally puzzled, puzzled until the rock face, like one of those perspective drawings, changed shape and revealed the steps. Cautious, nervy, scrambled steps took me to the top and into the castle.
Lunching in Vourliotes
All was dutifully recorded in The Landscapes of Samos, published by Sunflower Books, and many others have since followed in our footsteps to find the steps leading up the rockface but fewer have undertaken the final assault.
Sir Edward’s interpretation of The Valley of the Nightingales would have been an inspiration. I feel sure about that. It is inspirational just be there, especially in spring when the honeyed song of nightingales fills the air constantly. This wooded valley arises on the north shore at Platanakia and climbs steadily through the vined terraced slopes of the Ambelos mountains and fades into the mountainside once above and beyond the pretty village Manolates. Since the publication of our Landscapes book, these northern slopes, riddled with paths and trails, have become so loved by walkers that many are recalled by the sheer beauty again and again. One of our favourite walks here takes a high level balcony route from Vourliotes to Manolates. Staying above the valleys, it overwhelms with spectacular views every step of the way. The return to Vourliotes on this walk dips in and out of valley heads, crosses streams and rivers and provides a pure woodland contrast. Walking on Kerkis (left) Micro Seitani (centre) Megalo Seitani (right)
Nimrod, one of the most beguiling of Elgar’s Enigma Variations, may well have been inspired by hills surrounding his beloved Malvern. To me they tell the romance and drama of walking on one of the most dramatic parts of Samos, the Kerkis mountains in the extreme west. Extreme tells everything about Kerkis. Rising sharply from sea level to near 5,000ft, the slopes bask in pine woodlands hiding untold flowers. The naked, fearsome, limestone peaks towering above belong somewhere else, a chocolate box lid, a jigsaw or simply some more famous mountains in Switzerland.
These mountains are here to challenge serious walkers and there are no easy days, just hard and rewarding ones. No road exists on the western side of the mountain. These slopes are too rocky, too severe for habitation but a coastal footpath neatly connects Potami, the last vestige of civilisation on the northern side to Drakei, the first village around on the west. Better still, the footpath takes in two very beautiful and natural beaches, Mikro Seitani and Megalo Seitani. There is a fun element thrown in for good measure. The one and only bus leading back from Drakei to civilisation leaves around 2.30 in the afternoon which leaves little time for dawdling too long on the beaches since the walk takes about 4 hours.
It is too late now for Sir Edward Elgar to set Samos to music but, had he done so, his dedication would have been simply, ‘to a beautiful island pictured within.’
A heavily revised 5th edition of the Landscapes of Samos by Brian & Eileen Anderson, due spring 05, will set you up with a complete walking holiday on the island and give you lots of background.