The village of Pirgos or Pyrgos on the island of Samos in Greece
Pirgos is another very nice mountainvillage in south - center of the island, not far from Koumaradei and close to a river (the Amfillisus). The village has about 750 inhabitants and is situated on an altitude of 750 meters. In the village is a fork in the road: south towards Spatherei and a couple of small beaches, or west towards Votslakia and Karlovassi. There are remains of a very old church on the large village square. Inside the remains stands another small church. On the village square there is also a very large old tree. In Pirgos there are many small old houses with balconies, that have pots with flowers in front of them. Some houses are falling apart, while others look in good condition. The streets are curly and narrow, in some places steep and some of them are cobbled. There are a couple of small shops, a few kafenions where you can have a drink and a couple of tavernes where you can have something to eat.
The first people that came from the Peloponnese settled in this green valley in Samos in the 16th century where the village now lies. They came from the village of Pirgos in the Peloponnese and gave the new village on Samos the name of their old village there. In the village you can still find some some very old houses that are covered with tiles and that have typical bay windows. Most residents of the village lead an agricultural life and produce wine, honey or olive oil. Also, like in Koumaradei, there are many shops that sell herbs or honey. There are also a number of tavernas where you can have something to eat. On the east side of the village is an old curved rock and it is believed that this was once the site of a temple.
The area around Pirgos and Koumaradei and some pieces around Spatherei (further south) were victims of fires that have raged in 2000. Although nature is slowly recovering, you still see many fallen logs here in this area. Flowers, bushes and small trees slowly take over the landscape, but money for the planting of new trees is not available. The fire trucks on Samos are still hopelessly outdated, with fire trucks from the sixties, and the island is really is not prepared for a repeat of the fires.