Sami was a powerful fortified town whose ruins are found in Lapitha Mountain, over the current port town. This town was an autonomous and independent state with its own coin inhabited from the Paleolithic Times. A strong and densely populated town with strong fortifications, it was located on top of the cliff. Several references of Ancient Sami are found in Homer's poems (Heliad, Odyssey) when Sami fought in the Trojan War. Though, in 188 BC, Sami lost its autonomy and freedom during the siege from the Romans.
During the Roman times, Ancient Sami flourished again due to the trade development and the increasing population. At that time, they built luxurious houses and public buildings. Excavations have brought to light parts of the citadel built during the Hellenistic Period and some Cyclopean walls situated in Paleokastro and Agioi Fanendes, from where the view is spectacular. The walls included 22 entrances, parts of an ancient theatre and rich tombs that date back to the 3rd century BC. The view from Ancient Sami to the sea and the island is great.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.