According to the Samothracian myth of the great flood, which is but a variation of the panhellenic myth of the Greek cataclysm, and the rescue of Deucalion and Pyrrha, it was here on Samothrace’s mountains that the Kaveiri were saved.

As witnessed by the findings near the present village of Karyotes, the island was inhabited in prehistoric times. Possibly during the Neolithic Era, certainly during the Bronze Age.

The first known inhabitants are the Kares. Later the island was settled by Thracians. The island’s most ancient names, Saonissos and Saokis, are attributed to them.

Ancient authors have rescued further names: Saos, Samos, Electris, Dardania, Aethionia, Leucosia, Leuconia, Meliti, which were all, however, put aside following its colonisation by Greek settlers whereupeon the name of Samothrace prevailed.

It is to the islands’s prehellenic population that the Temple of the Great Gods, the most ancient site of worship, is also attributed. Samothrace was an important religious centre, respected and protected all the way to Roman times, even unto the end of the 4th century A.D. whereupon Christianity had become firmly established.

The island owes its great fame during antiquity to the fact that it was a panhellenic religious centre similar to the Temple of Demeter and Persephone in Eleusis.

Here there was the Temple of the Great Gods and of mystic ceremonies.

Its religious importance as a Panhellenic temple was so great that it was called "Delos of the Northern Aegean". The worship of the Great Gods is of prehellenic origin and existed on Samothrace before the arrival of its Greek settlers (approximately 700 B.C.).

The worship of the Great Gods included ceremonies and mysteries, acceptance to which was independent of social status, age or nationality.

The Greek kings of Macedon, Thrace and Egypt placed the Temple under their protection and enriched it with marble constructions and offerings, the ruins of which have been preserved to the present day. Here was the goddness Axieros worshipped, whom the Greeks identified with the goddess Demeter.

Nearby, the god of fertility, Kadmilus, whom the Greeks identified with Hermes, was also worshipped.

The twin demons, the Kaveiri, also belonged to the same religous cycle. The god of the underworld and his spouse, Axiokersus and Axiokersa, were later added to this group of gods. In addition to the worship of the Great Gods, it is known from insciptions that the worship of Athena, Aphorodite and Demeter also took place in the this temple extending beyond the city walls.

The sacred Temple of worship of the Great Gods is found in the northern part of the island, at Paleopolis. We are here reminded of the Delphic landscape, covered in plane-trees olives and oleanders.

Homer’s reference to Samothrace shows that the island was well known during the Mycenaean era.

According to the archaeologist G.Frederich and C.Lemann, the first Greeks settled on the island between 800-700 B.C.

Samothrace’s important geographical location, trade and rich natural resources rendered it a prominent city state during ancient times, with its own currency and naval fleet.

Between 491 and 480 B.C. Samothrace surrendered to the Persians.

Samothrace became a member of the first Athenian alliance in 477 B.C. Following the termination of the Peloponnesian war the Spartans conquered Samothrace; according to Plutarch, General Lyssader came to the island and was initiated the Kaveirian mysteries.

During classical times the reputation of Samothrace’s mysteries, mentioned by Herodotus, Aristophanes and many other ancient authors, is great, and the temple if the Great Gods becomes an important international religious centre.

According to tradition, it was on Samothrace, at the temple of the Great Gods, that the King of Macedon Philip II met with Olympias.

The Macedonian kings, from Philip II as well as Alexander the Great’s successors, held the temple and its mysteries in greatest respect, embellishing it with wondrous marble monuments and offerings.

Samothrace becomes part of the Egyptian Empire after Thrace was conquered by the Ptolemies.

The Greek kings of Macedon, Thrace and Egypt placed the Temple under their protection, enriching it with marble constructions and offerings.

The main buildings of the Temple of Samothrace are the Palace, the Sacred Habitat, - the Arsinoeo, the Temenos (Sacred Place), the Temple, the ancient Double Enclosure, the House of Dedications, the Altar of Sacrifice, the Theater, the Arcade, the Fountain of Victory (Niki), the Cemetary, the Portal of Ptolemy II, the Eastern Hill.

When Ciriaco d’Ancora visited Samothrace in October of 1444 and saw the Temple’s fallen Doric columns, he named it the Temple of Poseidon.

19th century archaeologists named it "Doric Temple"; later, when the Temenos (Sacred Place) was discovered, they changed the name to "New Temple". Today we are certain that this building was not a temple but a location where the second stage of initiation took place.

During the Roman period Samothrace was free; the island is considered sacred and the Temenos of the Great Gods, an asylum.

From the beginning of the 1st century B.C.,higher officials, military officers and tradesmen come to Samothrace and are initiated to the Kaveirian mysteries.

Apostle Paul passed through Samothrace in the fall of 49 A.D. on his way to Neapolis and Philippi. It is possible that the early Christian church at the edge of an ancient port, found in 1938, which had been built a few centuries following the Apostle’s visit, wished to commemorate this great event.

The Emperor Hadrian visited the island in 123 A.D. and was met with great honour. The island was still significantly populated during Byzantine times. However, from the 8th century and on, Slavs and Saracens raided the island often; as a result the population began to decreace.

In 1315; Martin Zaccaria was ordained Bishop of Samothrace for a few years. Soon the Turkish invasions began.

In 1430 Samothrace was dominated by the Gattilusi. As witnessed by the towers at Paleopolis, Chora and Phonia, the sovereign, Palamedes Gattilusi fortified the island.

Samothrace declined during were Middle Ages, and its monuments are destroyed in order to serve as building materials.

Following the changeovers from Genoan to Turkish to Venetian rulers, Samothrace is finally subjugated by the Turks in 1479.

On the eve of the Greek revolution, Samothrace’s population numbered 4.000 inhabitants. On September 1st, 1821 the Turks landed on Samothrace resulting in the plunder and pillage of the island. Hundreds were slaughtered and many inhabitants of both sexes were sold off as slaves; amongst the latter were Samothraces five Saintly Martyrs. The great massacre of Samothrace took place on Tuesday, September 1st, 1821.

According to data left by the famous doctor N.Fardes, the new populace of Samothrace was formed by the 33 families who were the only survivors remaining from the original 15.000 inhabitants before the massacre.

Later, to these few were added inhabitants from the islands of Lemnos, Imvros, Thasos, Lesbos. Even inhabitants from distant Hepirus came to settle on the island. Five of the hostages brought by the Turks to Constantinople following the destruction of the island were converted to Islam. Many years later, in 1835, they returned to the island and reconverted to Christianity. In retribution, the Turks tortured and executed them on April 6th, 1835 at Makri. Their memory is celebrated on Samothrace, at Makri and Mount Athos the Sunday following Easter.

It is in memory of these 5 neomartyrs that "the Service for the Samothracians at Makri of Thace, five martyrs Manuel, Theodoros, Gheorghios, Michael and Gheorghios" written by the monk Iakovos in 1843 is chanted.

The Greek fleet liberated Samothrace in 1912 (October 19, 1912), and its annexation to Greece was ratified in February of 1914.

Between 1918-1922 many refugees from the coast of Asia Minor settled on Samothrace. In 1951 the population had reach 4.258 inhabitants. Soon however, the flow of emigration began to deplete the populace, and so in 1961, the inhabitants numbered 3.850; in 1971 they hade decreased to 3.102 and today number a mere 2.800.