Tannery District (Tabakika)

The Tabakika tanneries of Samos are among the island’s most important industrial points of interest, tied to the heyday of leather tanning in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This activity began during the period of the Hegemony, with small leather‑processing workshops first established in the Port of Vathy and soon thriving in Karlovasi, which developed into one of the Eastern Mediterranean’s leading tanning centers. By the late 19th century, Karlovasi’s tanneries had mechanized, employing hundreds of workers and exporting products abroad. The boom of this craft played a decisive role in Samos’s economic and social progress, creating new professional strata and institutions. Today, the ruined tannery buildings stand by the sea as monuments to the island’s industrial history, recalling a time of great commercial and productive prosperity.