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Marathokambos

(meaning plain of fennels)

Municipality

At the 7th km of the road Karlovasi-Pythagoreio-Samos is the detour towards Marathokambos and after six more km you will find this Municipality. It’s facing to the South towards the homonymous bay and the Dodecanese.

It was initially built at a lower location, at the area called “Louceika” close to a plain full of fennels, and it seems that that’s where it got its name from. Later, this first settlement was moved further up the mountain possibly for safety reasons. Another interpretation of its name mentions that it derives from some of its first inhabitants that came from the village Marathonisi in the Peloponnese, today’s Gytheio.

The first inhabitants came from Chios, Peloponnese, Carpathos, Ikaria and Crete. Emmanuel Criticides mentions that it started being built in 1715, but it must have existed earlier since Iosif Georgirinis mentions it in 1677.

Primary occupation of the residents is agriculture, more specifically olives, many are fishermen and another big portion of the populace is occupied in the growing tourist industry of the area. In earlier days most people were sailors, working in the many sailboats that were constructed in the municipality’s shipyards or serving as sailors abroad.

There aren’t any big monasteries in the area. In the south end of the village one finds the small monastery dedicated to Holly Mary with just a few cells, built in 1887, also the monastery of St. John the Merciful, close to the homonymous cape which was built in 1867 from the monk Isidoros Kyriakopoulos with fresh water springs near by. There’s also the monastery of “Kakoperato” that was mentioned earlier and the monastery of “Panagitsa” on Kerkis mountain. This one is at the south slope of the mountain, on an altitude of 700 meters. It was built in the 10th century A.D. and is the oldest one in the island. It has a wonderful view of the Dodecanese islands and is surrounded by pine trees. West of the village is the small monastery of St.George that was built before 1677 since it is mentioned by Iosif Georgirinis. It used to belong to the Patmos monastery but a few decades ago a private individual bought it along with its estates.

West of Marathokambos and on an altitude of 350 meters is the so-called “Pythagoras cave”. The tradition mentions that the famous philosopher and mathematician once hid there in order to escape from his enemies that were persecuting him. A bit figher at 700 meters is the monastery of Evangelistria (that we mentioned earlier) and further up on an altitude of 1170 meters is the small chapel dedicated to Prophet Elias. 1000 meters to the northwest is the highest peak of Kerkis mountain and Samos in general, it’s called “Vigla” and the altitude is 1445 meters. One can only walk there but the view to the Aegean Sea and Asia Minor is compensating for the weariness.

Marathokambos municipality is the biggest one in terms of land on the island but it’s mostly rocky, barren and mountainous since it contains most of Kerkis mountain. At the census of 2001 it had eights settlements managed by it, St. Kyriaki with 57 residents, Ormos with 221, Paliochori with 12, Velanidia with 69, Isomata with 17, Kambos with 237 and Limnionas with 16.

Kamnos and Limnionas are new, by the sea settlements that are growing fast because of tourism. They have large sandy beaches and here we find the beach of Chrisi (or Psili) Ammos (golden sand) which is a place of extreme natural beauty with shallow water and pines all the way to the sea.

Marathokambos’ highest ever-recorded population was recorded in the 1928 census, 3622 residents.
 

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