Tourist information - Samothraki
Samothraki has one of the most dramatic profiles of the many Greek islands its dark mass of granite rises abruptly coming from the sea, culminating in the 1611-metre Mount Fengari. Seafarers have always been guided by its outline, clearly noticeable from the mainland, and then in legend its summit provided a standpoint for Poseidon to watch over the siege of Troy. The mostly forbidding coastline provides no natural anchorage, however in ancient times the island was colonized by settlers from Thrace, with more recent migrations from Anatolia and Lesvos swelling the population. Landing is still a great deal prone to the vagaries of the notoriously unpredictable weather, but it failed to deter pilgrims who, for centuries, journeyed to island to visit the Sanctuary of the Great Gods and were initiated into its mysteries. The Sanctuary continues to be the main archeological attraction of the island which, too remote for most tourists, combines earthy simplicity with natural grandeur.
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