Site Exploration
Fascination with mystery religion aroused a continuing interest in the site though the 17th and 18th centuries. Following the spectacular discovery of the Victory statue - now in the Louvre - by French consul Charles Champoiseau (posted to Adrianople) in 1863, the French team of Deville and Coquart carried out the first archeological explorations of the site in 1866. The Austrian A. Conze was next to explore the site in 1873 and 1876: he cleared the Ptolémaion and the stoa, and carried out some superficial digs at the Hiéron, the Arsinoéion as well as the Temenos. This work was published in two rich volumes of a quality tremendous for their time. In accordance with an agreement with the Turkish government, the Austrians shared their discoveries: numerous architectural fragments went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, while others where sent to Gallipoli and then on to the Archeological Museum of Istanbul — part of this material unfortunately disappeared during transport. Champoiseau returned in 1891 to look for the blocks which formed the ship's prow upon which Victory had been installed in Paris, and at this time discovered the theatre. The École française d'Athènes and the University of Prague (Salač and Chapouthier, Fernand) also carried out joint work between 1923 and 1927, before the Institute of Fine Arts (at New York University) started their first excavations in 1938, which uncovered the Anaktoron. Interrupted by the war, during which time the site suffered greatly as a result of Bulgarian occupation, they returned in 1948 and continue to the present. In 1956 a partial reconstruction (anastylosis) of the Hiéron facade was carried out.
Read more about this topic: Samothrace Temple Complex
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—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)