Church of Metamorfosi Sotiros at Potami

A few metres before the bridge at Potami, at the edge of the woods above the beach, a sign marks the path; some 250 m later stands the church of the Transfiguration, known locally as 'Panagia Potamiou'. It dates to the 11th century, probably on a 6th-century Early Christian foundation, and is the oldest surviving church on Samos. It is a cross-in-square, four-column type, its tall dome carried on ancient marble columns with Corinthian capitals reused from older monuments, with blind arches on the exterior in a Constantinopolitan technique; the door is usually unlocked. Higher up on a steep outcrop stands the small Byzantine castle of Potami, raised at the same time as the church: its eastern wall still stands 7.5-8 m high up to the battlements, the original gateway is intact, and inside the enclosure are a cistern and the ruins of a small three-aisled church. It pairs naturally with the walk to the waterfalls just upstream.