📍 Tria Dontia – Practical Information

Tria Dontia is located on the outskirts of Pythagorio, right beside the Doryssa hotel complex and not far from the beach. It is an easy walk from the town centre.

The site is freely accessible. The ruins stand in an open area, with paths running between the remains of the basilica. However, remember that this is an archaeological site – do not climb on the walls or move any of the stone elements lying around the site.

🎨 Mosaics Hidden Beneath the Ground

One of the greatest treasures of Tria Dontia was the mosaic flooring that covered all three aisles of the basilica. It featured elaborate, mainly geometric patterns made from stone and glass tesserae.

In a later period, some of the mosaics disappeared from view. When the church was rebuilt, the older floor was used as a base for a new and much more elaborate opus sectile marble floor, created from carefully cut slabs.

In 1995, the mosaics were uncovered again, cleaned and documented. They were then protected by covering them with protective layers. As a result, when walking among the ruins of Tria Dontia today, you may not even realise that beneath the surface lie the remains of the richly decorated floor of the former basilica.

🏗️ The Basilica Changed Over the Centuries

Tria Dontia did not always look the same. Archaeologists have identified two main phases of the building. Originally, it was a typical three-aisled basilica covered by a wooden roof.

After it was destroyed, the church was rebuilt in a different form. The outer walls were reinforced and four massive pillars were erected inside, probably to support a new system of vaults. The narthex, atrium and a chapel created in the eastern part of the southern aisle are also associated with this rebuilding phase.

Still later, massive buttresses were added to the exterior walls. Three of them have survived to this day as the distinctive “Three Teeth” from which the site takes its name.

🏃 What Was Here Before?

Before the Tria Dontia basilica was built, this area formed part of the great athletic complex of ancient Samos. It included a stadium, gymnasium and palaestra, while during the Roman period baths were also built nearby.

The stadium extended across this part of the city, where a Christian basilica was constructed several centuries later. This was therefore not an empty site chosen at random. The new church was built over the remains of a place where the inhabitants of ancient Samos had once trained and competed.

For a long time, however, the exact location of the stadium was not known. It was only archaeological research at Tria Dontia that provided strong evidence that it had indeed stood here. Beneath structures associated with the basilica, archaeologists discovered the starting line of the ancient stadium.

That discovery, however, deserves a story of its own.

⛏️ Archaeologists Dig Deeper and Discover the Starting Line

The first clues appeared in 1972. During brief investigations at Tria Dontia, archaeologists came across remains that may have belonged to the ancient stadium. At that stage, however, it was still only a hypothesis.

The breakthrough came in 1977, when larger-scale excavations began around the basilica. Beneath the later Early Christian structures, archaeologists uncovered the stadium’s starting line. This confirmed that the western end of the ancient sporting venue had indeed been located here.

Excavations continued between 1977 and 1979. Archaeologists uncovered further sections of the basilica while at the same time reaching older remains hidden beneath its walls. Tria Dontia therefore proved to be a place where traces of two completely different chapters in the history of Samos have survived – the ancient stadium and the later Christian church.

🏨 Ancient Ruins Between a Hotel and the Beach

Tria Dontia stands in an unusual location – right beside a hotel complex and only a few dozen metres from the sea. Today, the ancient walls sit alongside palm trees, swimming pools and the hotel’s recreational areas.

A publication devoted to the conservation of the mosaics noted that the archaeological site lies around 30 metres from the shore and was easily accessible to hotel guests. Some of the archaeological remains are so close to modern buildings that, in places, the boundary between the hotel and the ancient site almost seems to disappear.

👀 Why Is It So Easy to Miss?

Tria Dontia is only a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Pythagorio, yet it is surprisingly easy to pass by without stopping. The ruins are not among the island’s best-known attractions and are not clearly marked on the main tourist maps of Pythagorio.

From the road, the three tall stone “teeth” are the most visible feature. Without knowing the history of the site, however, it is difficult to guess that they are the remains of an Early Christian basilica – and even harder to imagine that archaeologists discovered an ancient stadium beneath its walls.

This is one of those places on Samos that you may come across by chance, only to discover later just how much history is hidden among these unassuming ruins.

Tria Dontia on Samos – a Basilica Built on an Ancient Stadium

Just beside a large hotel, not far from the beach in Pythagorio, three massive stone structures rise above the grass. You can see them from the road without having any idea what you are looking at. This is Tria Dontia – the “Three Teeth” – the remains of an Early Christian basilica.

But the history of this site began much earlier. When archaeologists began excavating, they discovered the remains of an ancient stadium beneath the ruins of the Christian church, and in 1977 they uncovered its starting line.

Two completely different worlds therefore meet in one place: the sporting Samos of antiquity and the Christian island of later centuries. And today, all of this lies almost within the grounds of a hotel complex.

🦷 Tria Dontia – Where Does the Name “Three Teeth” Come From?

You only need to look at the ruins from a short distance away to understand the name of this place. Three massive stone structures rise above the site, resembling three teeth. It is from them that the site became known as Tria Dontia (Τρία Δόντια) – the “Three Teeth”.

These are not, however, random fragments of walls. They are monumental buttresses associated with the Early Christian basilica. An archaeological report from 1977 described them as three enormous structures preserved to a height of around 6.5 metres. Even then, it was noted that the basilica took its name from them.

Interestingly, the “Three Teeth” did not belong to the earliest phase of the church. They were added later, when the basilica was rebuilt and reinforced. Today, they remain the most distinctive feature of the former building and can be seen from a considerable distance.

⛪ A Basilica Built on a Stadium

Tria Dontia was a three-aisled Early Christian basilica almost 30 metres long. Its origins are generally dated to the 5th century, although the building was subsequently altered several times.

The church was built on a site that already had a long history. It stood over the western part of the ancient stadium, which belonged to the great athletic complex of ancient Samos. Elements of earlier buildings were reused – large stone blocks from older structures were incorporated into the walls of the basilica.

Over the centuries, therefore, the same place acquired a completely different purpose. Where athletic competitions had once taken place, a Christian church was built. The traces of the stadium did not disappear, however – archaeologists later uncovered them beneath and beside the walls of the basilica.