The Island of Rhodes

I have been fortunate to visit the sites of five out of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Only one, the Great Pyramid of Giza, still exists. It was so cool to be able to touch it and even climb on part of it. Also in Egypt, I have been shown where the Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood. There is a fort there now built with some of the stone blocks from the lighthouse.

At Ephesus in Turkey, I saw the few remains of the Temple of Artemis in 2011. During this 2014 tour of Greece and the Greek Islands, I saw where the Statue of Zeus used to be at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia.

At Rhodes, we were shown the entrance to the harbor where it was believed the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.  It was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios that was erected in 280 BC and stood about 108 feet high. But nobody knows for certain if it stood on the side of the harbor, or straddled the entrance. It collapsed during a 228 BC earthquake. However it was standing, it wasn’t standing long.

It was said that it snapped at the knees and fell over onto the ground. The Oracle at Delphi told the Rhodesians something that made them feel they had offended Helios by building it, so they decided not to rebuild. It is said that the remains of the statue lay on the ground for over 800 years.

Since the remains fell over onto the ground, and since building it straddling the harbor would not have been too likely (since the harbor would have had to have been closed while building), and since it was made of bronze which would most likely have collapsed under its own weight if built with its legs spread apart, most of the experts don’t think it straddled the harbor. Although its location is still being debated, a fairly prominent possibly is where the Fortress of St Nicholas currently sits. The very large, circular platform on which it sits is much older than the fortress (which is 14^th century). Also this site would have allowed the statue to lie on the ground without blocking the harbor.

We passed the harbor entrance on our way out of town. Instead of touring the medieval old city, we set off for Philerimos . We would tour the old, walled city of Rhodes later.

Philerimos (or Filerimos) was once the ancient city of Ialysos, which dates back to the 3^rd millennium BC and was one of the Rhodesian cities that participated in the Trojan War. Ruins of ancient temples to Zeus and Athena lie just outside of a church of the Order of the Knights of Saint John Hospitaller (14^th century). A monastery belonging to the same order stands on the other side of the church. We toured the church and the monastery.

One of my favorite parts of the visit, involved the peacocks. There were a very large number of them. It was mating season, so they had a lot to say. The males were especially noisy and aggressive. We had to keep our eyes open as to where they were the entire time. They were large and could be fallen over or bump into you, especially when they flew by.

I have a photo of a gorgeous male who posed for me (I did not zoom in; he was that close), followed by another who was spreading his tail feathers. As I was taking that photo, another flew right past me, brushing me with his tail feathers as he did so. I took a photo of him sitting up in a tree.

On our way back to the city of Rhodes (both the city and island have the same name), we passed a Hellenistic (5^th – 3^rd centuries BC) Temple of Apollo on the Acropolis of Rhodes. It was on the other side of the tour bus, so I couldn’t get a decent photo. But I have included a fuzzy one that shows it still had three columns standing.

In 1306 – 1310, as the Byzantine period ended, the Order of St John Hospitaller took over the island. They went on a building spree, most of which still stands, including the Fortress of the Order of St John and the Palace of the Grand Master.

They withstood attacks by the Sultan of Egypt and an Ottoman siege, but finally fell to the 100,000 strong (to 7,000 knights) of Suleiman the Magnificent during a six month siege. The Ottomans retained control for roughly 400 years. They didn’t destroy what the knights had built. They just moved in. The Order of St John made their new headquarters in Malta.

We entered the largest medieval town in Europe (population of about 6,000) through the Gate d’Amboise. We viewed a number of fortifications on our way to the Palace of the Grand Master, also known as the Kastello (the castle).

The building was originally built by the Byzantines in the 7^th century AD and greatly enlarged by the Hospitallers. In 1856, there was a large ammunition explosion in part of the Palace that destroyed a portion of the first floor. Once the Italians took over, the Palace was renovated and used as a holiday residence first by the King of Italy and later by Benito Mussolini.

The Palace was very large. Several mosaic floors had been taken from their origins on the Greek island of Kos (which was also under the control of the Hospitallers) and re-laid in the Palace. There is one from the 2^nd century BC of Medusa. I took a photo and have included it here.

After we left the Palace, we headed back towards the harbor down the Street of the Knights. This was where the knights themselves lived. There were seven inns – one for each of the seven countries from which the knights originated. They are all still in great shape. The most spectacular of them all is the one built for the French knights, to which the majority of the group belonged. This inn was built in 1492 and was being used at a French Consulate as of 2014.

Once we reached the main square, we had a little free time before heading back to the ship. I chose to get ice cream (no surprise there) and sit and do some people watching.

Next time – the Islands of Symi & Chios

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