Aikaterinh Balla Source: C.E.T.I. © Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

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The ancient city of Samothrace, built on the northern foot of mount Aghios Georgios, was naturally fortified and only some sections of the city walls were artificially fortified.
The fortification is almost 2.4 km long and encloses an area of about 20 hectares, which is quite larger than the built area. The walls are made of coarsely carved blocks of stones of different dimensions, while there are more recent sections of isodomic or pseudo-isodomic masonry with rectangular stone plinths as well as other sections of polygonal masonry. The wall consists of two faces whose inner gap is filled with riprap, earth and rocks. The width ranges from 2.30 m to 4 m, except from its northern side where the width is 1.5 m. The wall is 5-6 m high and dates from the 6th to the 3rd centuries BC.
The fortification includes 4 known gates; yet, another gate (E) is cited between gates B and C. The most interesting is Gate A that lies lower on the western section of the enceinte and apparently connected the City with the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. Two parallel cantilevers placed vertically to the walls, form a corridor, which is open in the interior, while its exterior part ends up to a rectangular structure that was added in a later period and probably served as a gate or a rampart (in that case, Gate A is placed 12 m to the northeast).
Although Samothrace played a key role in the maritime communication in the area of the Northern Aegean Sea owing to its geographical position, it did not actually have significant harbours. There is a small bay at the location where the early colonists chose to settle and a small breakwater to the east of the bay, probably constructed in the 6th century BC to provide more effective protection for the harbour. At present, some large blocks of trachyte stones are visible in the sea. The Ancient City harbour, which was not enclosed in the fortification, was referenced for the first time in the written sources in the 4th century BC. The Acts of the Apostles also mention it while describing that Apostle Paul passed by this location in 49/50 AD during his journey from Troas to Neapolis (Kavala) and from there to the city of Philippi. Tradition has it that an Early Christian basilica was built to commemorate that journey, though it now lies in ruined condition on the eastern side of the ancient harbour, under the imposing tower of Gattilusi.
The Early Christian basilica at Palaiopolis was uncovered by the American Archaeological School in 1938 and the survey of the monument has not yet been concluded.
The church masonry was made of elaborated carved stones on the sides of the walls while the interior is in moulded stone masonry. Ancient architectural members have been used in the construction. In the interior of the church, the ruins of a semicircular arch are preserved as well as the southern wall of the second church, built in plinth masonry, parts of the Early Christian closure panel and other architectural members. East of the exterior arch, a part of the Byzantine fortification was revealed, apparently built with the use of ancient construction material.
Another ancient harbour called Demetrion, which is the only significant natural harbour in Samothrace lies on the west side of the island, at the Kamariotissa bay.
During medieval times, the Gattilusi raised a fortress complex over an imposing rocky hill near the harbour. Ancient building material from the area was used for its construction. The medieval fortification of Palaiopolis, over the Early Christian basilica, was constructed in 1431/1433 and formed part of the Samothracian defence programme of Gatillusi against the Turks and, mainly, the Venetians. The fortified complex contains a moat, an enceinte and three towers; the southeastern tower is preserved almost intact.
The masonry of carved stones and lime mortar contained several marble architectural members, mainly from the buildings of the Ancient City. The three-storey wooden-floor tower with a blind ground floor is rectangular and reaches a height of almost 17.75 m. A simple niche pierced in the northeastern wall of the first floor formed the entrance of the tower that was accessed by an exterior movable staircase. On the ground floor, there is a round deposit connected through a pipe with the last floor for the collection of rainwater. The interior staircase was made of wood up to the level of the third floor; at that point the staircase was carved into the wall forming a dome that ended up to a rooftop room made of stones and empty earthenware jars for weight reduction. The roof is vaulted in the shape of a semi cylinder and reinforced by an arch-rib in the middle. The interior faces of the walls bear various arched niches of various shapes, each one of them having embrasures. On the southeastern wall and almost at the level of the second floor, there is a roofed gallery, now reconstructed, with two rectangular murder holes opened on its floor between the corbels that used to support it. These stone corbels stood on the circuit of the tower and almost 2 m under the level of the rooftop room, probably supporting a parapet. The gate of the fortress complex stood on the southwestern part of the northwestern side of the tower. Apart from the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, which was the most important sanctuary in Samothrace, there were other religious buildings at the ancient settlement. The ancient city’s patron goddess was Athena, also depicted on the obverse side of the island’s coins. The sanctuary dedicated to her is considered to have been on the spot where now lies the medieval fortification of the Gattilusi or on another position higher and to the north, on a small, full of marble fragments, terrace formed on the mountain slope near the small ruined chapel of St George. The archaeological excavation carried out in that area revealed parts of architectural members originating from at least two buildings of the Doric and the Ionic order respectively.
The ancient city was inhabited until the Byzantine period.