Neorion at Samothrace

Location and materials The neorion is built on the western hill of the sanctuary on Samothrace (number 6 in the site plan to the right). People who came to the neorion at the time of its initial construction would have had a clear view of the Aegean from the vantage point of the building; visitors would have entered through two large doors, framed with Thasian marble in the Doric style, on the Northern side of the structure where votive dedications could also be offered. The imported marble was also used in supports to hold up the ship housed along the entire length of the Southern gallery. Due to the layout of the neorion, visitors would have only been able to see one side of the ship through the wooden grille between the columns. Size While the building itself is roughly eighty feet long and forty feet in width (28.7m x 13.5m), due to the division of the gallery the ship itself could have only been about wide; based on the supports, the ship appeared to have a symmetrical keel. == Archaeology ==

Theories It is not clear to archaeologists and historians exactly what sort of ship was housed in the neorion or by whom it was dedicated, however there are several hypotheses. Theories posited by scholars at Emory University are that "[t]he Neorion could have housed a ship captured in battle, or one that brought victory, salvation or profit." This potential origin for the ship could help explain the relatively small size of the vessel (compared to a larger warship as exampled in the neorion at the Sanctuary of Apollo at Delos). was found at the neorion site in 1988. Due to its size, Katherine Welch argues that it was a votive, dedicatory statue rather than a cult statue; she also comments that this particular find is important in understanding the larger context of Samothracian and Greek portrayal of this important deity. While not commenting on the location of the find, she states that this particular artifact found at the neorion site is "unique in being the only representation of a principle deity of the Samothracian mystery cult to have been found on this island." == References ==