Rhodes, home of the sun god, Helius, is another beautiful Greek island, part of the
Dodecanese group of islands. It is the 4th
largest of the 12 islands in the group with a very colorful history. The island boasts an average of 300
days of sunshine per year, and today was the clearest day we have seen, with
bright blue cloudless skies.
The city of Rhodes (same name as the island) is another
walled medieval city and much more beautiful than we had expected. The city is
know for the Colossus of Rhodes, a huge bronze statue erected in honor of their sun god which stood 100 feet tall. (Its size was comparable to the Stature of Liberty.) Built in the 3rd century, it stood at the
entrance of the harbor, and was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. Taking 12 years to build, it only stood for 56 years, being destroyed by an earthquake. Named for its huge size it is no
longer in existence, and there is even uncertainty concerning its exact
original location.
Acropolis outside of town.. This time we
had 3 other couples that joined us: Charlie and Sue from Maryland, Andy and
Kathy from the UK and Sarah and her brother from Canada. Our tour lasted 3 ½
hours and covered quite a bit of ground. Our guide was Athena, who has lived on
Rhodes her entire life from Rhodes. She
was a very knowledgeable, sweet mother
of two who spoke perfect English.
entered the Old Town via St. Panagias’ Gate.
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| The medieval wall is 3 1/2 miles long and 40 feet thick. |
The Old Town is surrounded with 3 large, deep moats and 2 impressive
walls. The walled city was built by the Knights of St. John, who made the city
their headquarters and owned and governed the entire island from 1200 – 1400
AD. The city is beautiful with its polished pebbled paved streets, high stone walls,
and fortresses. We began our tour at the remains of the Cathedral of St. John,
the Knight’s main church, and proceeded from there to walk through Old Town.
The Knights, Catholic priests, were responsible for building this beautiful
city. The knights came from of 7 separate origins and each defended a different part of the city. After leaving this city, they went to the island of Malta were they
remained for 400 more years.
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| Knights of St. John Cathedral |
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| Other side of cathedral. We do not know this man. |
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| Avenue of the Knights – Ippoton – which leads downhill from the palace. |
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| Palace of the Grand Masters – a Byzantine fortress that contains 300 rooms with a moat, drawbridges, and watchtowers. Just like the movies! It is located at the highest point in town. |
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| Wall and Coat of arms for the Knight on the Ag Athanesios |
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| Gate of the City named Amboise Gate |
Once we left the city we walked uphill through the New Town to
the acropolis. We did not realize that almost every Greek city had an
acropolis, or “high place”. They usually
were places of worship, but also were places of safety where people would go if
the town was being attacked. This one
lived up to its name – it was a very high place, so it was a very hot and long
walk. Along the way, we stopped and
viewed where ruins had been found when someone was constructing their house and
had to build on stilts in order to preserve the ruins – a beautiful mosaic was
on the ground beneath the house. When this happens, nothing else can be built
there unless it is built on stilts to preserve the artifacts. Not a great thing for resale value!
the port and the ship – a wonderful view. Located on the acropolis were the
ruins of the Temple of Apollo, a stadeon, and oedon. The stadeon looked just
like our stadium, with a straight back and forth track rather than a circular
track, and had a judge’s stand in the center. The track measured approximately
100 meters, but was not an exact measurement. In those days they measured the
length of the track by paces, so distances would vary from stadium to stadium
based on who was doing the measurement. They used the length of a stadeon as a
unit of measurement when referring to distances between cities. For example,
they might say “the distance from Rhodes to Lindos was 300 stadeos”. The odoen was a small amphitoreum used for oratory, drama, and musical performances. It still has great acoustics that we tried
out (no, we did not sing). And marble
seating in the hot sun with no shade for the spectators, who I guess were used
to the heat and did not mind. Since there was no power, all of the performances
would have been during the daytime.
other side of the island and had a fantastic view of the west coast. It was
very windy, but had a beautiful view of the Aegean Sea and Turkey.
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| Temple of Apollo |
entered through the gated walls over the moat system. We returned to the ship
for lunch and then went back into town to shop and find an Internet cafe. The shopping area known as Sokratous was similar to a Turkish bazaar was very nice. Along the way we found a doughnut shop in a
home and enjoyed a delicious one fresh out of the pot!
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| Greek Doughnuts |
know anything about his stay; Luke only mentions that he came there. (Acts 21:1)
Tradition conjectures that he landed on the island near the city of Lindos,
located 37 miles north of the town of Rhodes. A bay that can be viewed from the
acropolis of Lindos has been named St. Paul’s Bay and it is believed that Paul
landed there.
early this evening. Love and miss you all.
