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Sunday May 12th, 2013. Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes is one of the largest Greek islands and has been inhabited since the Stone Age. It has a temperate climate and mild winters which makes it a popular year-round resort.
After breakfast we met Alan and Karen by the gangway at 8.45 am as we had arranged last night. We docked at the city of Rhodes at the north tip of the Island. We had planned to take the local bus to Lindos but as we exited the port gates we found a very reasonably priced car rental place. We decided to hire a car instead as it would give us more flexibility to see other things - and we had a reasonably long day here, not having to be back onboard until 5.30 pm (and, we found out later, was cheaper than the bus too).
We headed directly to Lindos armed with a map from the car hire company. Lindos is the most important archaelogical site on the Island of Rhodes, with its central rock crowned by the acropolis. Lindos was one of the 3 city-states of Rhodes (the other two being Ialysos and Kamiros), which according to Homer took
part in the Trojan War. The town of Lindos has grown around 4 natural harbours. We found somewhere to park and headed directly to the acropolis as it was quite a climb and it was still relatively early - so not too hot (hot enough though!). We decided not to take a donkey to the top and walked up instead. The founding of the sanctuary of Athena Lindia on the acropolis dates back to th 9th century BC, but many scholars believe that a cult existed here much earlier - as far back as Mycenaean times. This view is also supported by the myth of Danaos, who (together with his daughters) is accredited with the founding of the sanctuary on their return from Egypt. The acropolis continued to be fortified in the Byzantine, Medieval and Ottoman periods. The Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem captured the castle in October 1307 and continued its construction. On September 30 1522 the garrison of Lindos surrendered the keys of the castle to the Ottoman Turks and a small Turkish garrison remained there until 1844. Between 1902 and 1905 the site was excavated by the Danish Archaeological mission and restoration was
carried out during Italian occupancy. We strolled around taking photographs of the ruins, some of which are still being reconstructed. In fact, it was quite difficult to get a good shot without a crane in the middle of it! From the edge of the castle we had a very good view of St Pauls Bay which is one of Rhodes most famous beauty spots. We made our way back down to the village following the donkey track and D led us to the small beach that he used when he holidayed here 30 years ago. We had a beer and some lunch and posted some blogs. Karen also used M's Skype to call her mother in Oz to wish her a happy Mother's Day.
We returned to the car and drove inland (stopping at a supermarket for some supplies). We drove to the village of Panagia and then headed north towards Apollona. The landscape was typically Greek but the whole area had been devestated by a huge wild fire. It must have happened some time ago as the ground foliage had completely recovered but the trees were still black and charred. We saw a lake which has been created
by the construction of a new dam. We know it must be new because the lake is not even on the map yet! It was really nice to see the 'real' Rhodes, completely free of tourists. We continued on to Platania where the trees weren't burned and we saw our first (and only) goats. At the road junction at Eleoussa we turned left and headed on to Dimylia and eventually rejoined the north west coast at Soroni. We passed the town of Theologos where they were celebrating some festival or other with Greek folk dancing and music. It was very lively but there was nowhere to park so we continued on towards Rhodes.
On the way into Rhodes town we turned right of the highway and visited the Temple of Apollo Pythios. We then jumped back in the car and drove around the corner to take a look at the amphitheatre. This is still fairly intact and quite impressive in scale alone.
We continued back to the port where we returned the car. We only had about an hour or so left before "All Aboard" so we went to take a look at Rhodes City old town. The
medieval city of Rhodes has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. It is a unique example of a particular medieval architectural style of the period of the Crusades that combines Byzantine, French and Spanish influences. With its Frankish and Ottoman buildings the city is an important collection of successive human settlements all of which have left their mark on the city. This is a charming walled city accessed via fantastic gates. We entered through the St Catherine Gate and strolled through the medieval streets. It was very clean and there was no hastle from the tourist shops like we had experienced in Santorini. There were some fantastic buildings in the old town including the church of the Virgin of the Burgh which dates from the 14th century AD. We passed the town hall and the national theatre before exiting through the Navishou Gate which led to the Commercial Harbour. We continued to walk around the harbour, through the city walls and into the Mandraki harbour. Here we climbed the walls and took some photographs.
We were running out of time so we headed back to the ship, passing 'The Mole' which has a fascinating history. It was
initially built to fill a gap in the ancient defences of the city. Later (1st century BC) it became an ancient dockyard. The Mole eventually fell into disrepair and from the late 2nd Century BC until the 4th century AD it was used as a burial site for low caste citizens. In the 14th Century AD it was widened on its west side by Deodat de Gozon. Most of the medieval site was destroyed when a mortar pavement was laid by the Ottomans who occupied the site from 1527 to 1911. During the Italian occupation (1912-1943) a long port authority building was erected between the two surviving windmills (it is not standing today).
M went to see the show at 6.30 pm which was an American Comedien called Lee Bayless. His humour was observational but not very funny. We were joined for dinner by Karen and Alan. After dinner we returned to the cabin and became so involved in a movie that we forgot to go to the Phillipino Crew Show at 11.00 pm!
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linda thornley
non-member comment
Rhodes
We went there years ago - loved it - hope you did too. X