MOSCHATOS TRAVEL, RHODES - GREECE

Rhodes Town

The history of the town of Rhodes starts in the year 408 B.C., 2.400 years ago. The three ancient city-states of the island, Kamiros, Lindos and Ialyssos, united and concentrated their power into creating one new settlement, a new city-state which was constructed on the northern part of the island. The foundation of Rhodes - Town was an important landmark for the history of the island. Within a few decades, Rhodes became one of the most beautiful, prosperous and powerful cities in history, thanks to its strategic geographical position and its navy.

The New Town
On entering Mandraki Harbour (yacht harbour), the most picturesque of the three ports of the city, visitors are welcomed by two bronze deers on pillars. They were placed where the famous Colossus of Rhodes used to probably stand and have become the modern emblem of Rhodes. Nearby, on the seawall are located the light house of St. Nicholas and the three old windmills. Numerous monumental buildings surround Mandraki Harbour and add to its majestic environment, among others the New Market (Nea Agora), a polygonal building with inner courtyard, the Archbishop's Palace, the Evangelismos (Annunciation) Church, the Central Post Office, the Town Hall, the Theater and the Governer's House (building from the Italian period now used as Prefecture). All of these impressive buildings stand along the harbour. Next to the Theater one can admire the Murad Reis Mosque and its graceful minaret. At the northern end of the town (the tip of the island) stands the Institute of Marine Biology (Aquarium).

The Old City
The Knights of St. John settled in Rhodes on 1309 A.D. The Order of the Knights was founded in the 11th century A.D. in Jerusalem and initially had religious purposes, but along with the Crusades they soon acquired a military character.

The highlight of a city tour would be to visit the Old City of Rhodes, a real medieval city built by the Knights. It's a walled town of approximately 4 km which is still inhabited today, and one of the few remaining well - preserved cities of the past. It is a maze of cobbled streets with medieval arches filled with shops selling folk art. The ramparts are unquestionably the finest remaining examples of fortification of the medieval times. The numerous places of interest include the Palace of the Grand Masters, the famous Street of the Knights, the Archaeological Museum (housed in the medieval building of the Hospital of the Knights), the Art Gallery, the Byzantine churches and the minarets.

The ancient city:
The Monte Smith is the highest point of the town. The hill is named after the English admiral Sir Sidney Smith, who used the hill as a lookout post during the war with the Turks and therefore it offers a great view on the seaand on the Turkish coast opposite.
On this hill is situated the ancient Acropolis, which includes the Stadium which dates back to the 2nd century B.C., the small ancient Theater next to it and the the Temple of Pythian Apollo on the highest level. By collecting the scattered remains found on this site the Italians (who occupied Rhodes in the 20th century) managed to rebuild a part of the temple.

The Colossus of Rhodes
The name of the Colossus is familiar to everyone. Its history begins with the siege of Demetrius Poliorketes, successor of Alexander the Great, in 305 B.C. With the money they gained from the sale of Demetrius' siege machinery, which he had left behind when he withdrew, the Rhodians decided to express their pride of their great victory by building a triumphal statue showing their favorite god, Helios. The task was assigned to the sculptor Chares of Lindos, a pupil of Lysippos himself, and twelve years (from 304 to 292 B.C.) were needed to finish it.

The Colossus was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a masterpiece of art and engineering, but we lack reliable information about its appearance and its location. An inscription found near the Palace of the Grand Masters allows us to estimate its height to about 31 meters. Most people imagine its appearance according to the lines portrayed (from imagination) by the French traveler Rottiers in 1826.
It is said that Chares cast bronze limbs of the statue on the spot, one at a time, using huge heaps of earth, and moving upwards from level to level, rather as one would build a house.

The old myth on which Rottiers based his drawing, that the statue stood across the entrance of the harbour and that incoming ships sailed between its legs, must, reluctantly, be abandoned. Today we can be sure that it stood on land (the way it was constructed suggests that) and that the most likely place it may have stood was the courtyard of the Temple of Helios, which was situated close to the current Grand Masters' Palace.

However, the statue was only a nine-day wonder, or, to be more accurate, a 66-year wonder. A violent earthquake in 226 B.C. broke its knees and sent it to the ground.

The Rhodians, afraid of some curse, did not dare replace it, and it rested where it had fallen for many centuries. At last, in 653 B.C. Arab pirates under Moabiah who were raiding in the area carried the bronze parts to the mainland opposite and sold it to a Jewish merchant. It is said that 900 camels were needed to transport it. The story was so closely linked to the name of Rhodes that for centuries afterwards both Greeks and Europeans referred to the people of Rhodes as "Colossians".