The G.& A. Mamidakis Foundation, has for two decades
now made ongoing efforts to present to the public major
cultural events, always directly related to Tourism.
To enrich our cultural activities, we conceived the idea of
publishing a series of catalogues featuring the untrodden
paths of the Greek mainland and islands, starting with
Crete. "Discover the unknown Crete", was released last year
and warmly embraced by our hotel guests, partners and
travelers.
Following our successful debut, we have explored,
recorded and illustrated the untrodden paths of the island
of Rhodes, in an equally inspiring 160 - page catalogue,
entitled:
Awake your Senses
Discover the unknown Rhodes
Island of Rhodes - Book two
We trust that the publication of these practical catalogues,
which also provide information about other unknown
destinations - monasteries, archaeological sites - will enable
modern - day travellers to experience another side of
Rhodes, the authentic, unexplored inland regions of the
island, just like the international travellers who discovered
and recorded the charms of our land in the 17th and 18th
centuries.
Gina Mamidakis
President
G. & A. Mamidakis Foundation

JUDITH LANGE MARIA STEFOSSI
awake your senses
DISCOVER THE UNKNOWN RHODES
Island of Rhodes - Book Two
Publication of this book has been made possible thanks to Gina
Mamidakis, President of the G.& A. Foundation and bluegr Mamidakis
Hotels group, and long-time patron of culture and the arts. The book is
dedicated to those ever-curious travellers who wish to learn more of
the beautiful island of Rhodes.
© copyright text and photographs by Judith Lange - Maria Stefossi
© copyright edition by G.& A. Foundation and bluegr Mamidakis hotels group.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written
permission from the authors.

Rhodes, the island born of the Sun
According to the myth, when the gods of Olympus
divided the earth among them they forgot about the Sun
God Helios who was still on his travels in his chariot of fire.
Helios did not take offence but, looking down from high in
the sky, he noticed an island that was still submerged by the
waters. With the help of Poseidon he caused it to emerge
and thus Rhodes appeared, “the island of the roses”. The
name of the island is a homage to the nymph Rodon,
daughter of Aphrodite, from whose love with Helios seven
sons would be born who were to colonize many islands in
the Aegean. The myth also tells that the first inhabitants of
Rhodes were the Telhines, children of the sea, amphibious
beings who were great inventors and craftsmen (creators of
the first bronze statues) and experts in magic.
Seen from above the island looks like a great green
leaf floating on the waters, or perhaps a dolphin leaping the
waves. History’s succession of events – from the Neolithic
Age to the Mycenaean Era, from the Doric to the Classical
and Hellenistic periods, from the dominion of the Knights of
St John to the Ottoman occupation – have all left their mark
and testimonies on the island soil.
A small guidebook like this one cannot, certainly,
hope to be exhaustive in describing every last one of this
land’s many treasures (the most densely packed in all the
Aegean), but it aims to offer suggestions that might help the
reader to come to understand and love the beauty of the
antique and modern traces of the island of Rhodes, of its
villages, churches, monasteries and castles and of the
landscape with its seas, forests, springs and mountains.
4 5

MIRAMARE WONDERLAND MIRAMARE WONDERLAND
Discover the leisure miracle
Miramare Wonderland is a unique
waterfront resort, providing
an unparallel orchestration of forms,
colours and images to capture your Indulge in en-suite luxury
imagination.
Each villa or cluster of bungalows is
It is located on the beach of Ixia, on designed in earth, sea and sky tones
Rhodes north-west coast, 20 minutes and is secluded from its neighbours by
from the Rhodes airport and 15 magnificent trees, jasmine and
minutes from the renowned Medieval bougainvillea.
town of Rhodes.
Private suites are from 45 m2 to 60 m2,
Unlike any other Greek resort, it was with spacious balconies or patios and
conceived and built as a small enjoy magnificent views. All of the 175
community of single and two-storey suite-bungalows offer every possible
buildings, nestled along its private leisure service.
1.5 km-long seafront. Paths meander
through 70,000 m2 of scented gardens, The Waterfront and Seafront suites are
a sparkling pool, an artificial lagoon and truly exclusive with their own open
covered walkways. terraces.
6 7

MIRAMARE WONDERLAND MIRAMARE WONDERLAND
Experience superb facilities
Discover a spectacular swimming pool, with superb wooden sun decks,
extending right to the sea. At the 1,500 metre-long pebble beach
equipped with umbrellas and sun beds, you can enjoy a number of
fascinating water-sports.
For the activity minded, the hotel offers a tennis court and a well-equipped
gym. The 3 km-long paths in the estate are ideal to take a walk within the
scented gardens. The Miramare Wonderland highlight is its romantic mini
train, replica of a 19th British steam engine, which can take you around the
entire complex.
Discover exquisite tastes
Our young friends can spend an exciting day at our children's club, whilst
Offering the finest service coupled with friendliness, Miramare Wonderland our baby sitting service will allow you some extra relaxation time. Our
proposes impeccable dining experiences. A rich buffet is served daily at mini-market, jewellery shop, medical care and exchange desk complete
the Olyo restaurant or even on your own terrace. During the day, you can our services to the last detail.
enjoy Greek and international delicacies at the Gulliver restaurant,
refreshments and exotic drinks at the pool bar Kahuna, while in the
evening, you can sip a cocktail at Kotinos bar.
Ixia, Gr - 85 101
At night, enjoy a romantic gourmet dinner near the lagoon, accompanied Rhodes, Greece
T: +30 2 2410 96251
by live entertainment. If you feel like staying in, our room service can F: +30 2 2410 95954
provide you a delicious dinner on your private terrace. In case you feel like
going out, drinks are offered at the Gulliver bar until late hours. info-miramare@bluegr.com
8 9

MIRAMARE WONDERLAND MIRAMARE WONDERLAND
blue earth water fire wind
Enjoy a unique sensory experience in surroundings designed to
introduce a feeling of complete luxury, comfort and relaxation.
Rejuvenate your mind and body through the elements of nature and
get inspired by wonderful tastes, sights, sounds and aromas. Watch the
sun glowing like fire on the eternal blue of the ocean,
feel the wind caressing your skin, smell the earth's enticing fragrances,
taste the refreshing water and surrender to the music of sounds filling
the space around you…
Enjoy life to its fullest; embrace nature with all your senses and reveal
the source of all inspiration,
the ancient knowledge of life "Ayurveda" that underpins our
hospitality philosophy.
Blue… a source of pure ethereal energy that encircles all elements, a
symbol of peace and tranquility that brings harmony
and broadens your perspectives. Immerse yourself in it and discover
the bridge between soul and matter,
the resource for holistic thinking, the channel of human
communication…
www.bluegr.com
10

CHAPTER 1
RHODES, THE CITY
OF THE “HUNDRED COLOSSI”
THE MEDIEVAL CITY
THE HARBOUR
AND THE MODERN TOWN
THE ACROPOLIS

C H A P T E R 1
Rhodes In the same period the geographer
Strabo affirmed that “harbours, roads and
buildings are so superior to the other cities that
we know nothing its equal”. By that time
Rhodes had already been conquered by the
Romans who sacked the city of her treasures,
filling the holds of their ships with the most
beautiful sculptures – among which the
Laocoön, Scylla, Ulysses and Polyphemus and
the Farnese Bull – to adorn the palaces of Rome.
Legs akimbo, protecting the port of Mandraki,
Only a few traces only the celebrated Colossus of Rhodes, one of
remain of the Every historical
original fifth- the Seven Wonders of the World, met a period has left its
century B.C. layout different fate. Work of the sculptor Chares, a tangible signs,
of the city except for the
of Rhodes
pupil of Lysippos, the Colossus was in bronze, Colossus, which fell
32 metres high and represented the Sun God, in the third century
U p until the fifth century B.C. the island was Helios. Erected between 302 and 290 B.C., it fell B.C.
governed by three city-states, Ialysos, Kamiros during an earthquake in 226 B.C., after less than
and Lindos, but by the end of the century, after a century and a half. Hundreds of pieces lay
it was devastated by the Athenian Alcibiades, about on the ground for almost nine centuries,
the Rhodians realised the necessity of creating until at last they were bought by an oriental
a unified state with a new capital. In 408 B.C. merchant who wanted to fuse the bronze.
they founded Rhodes, based on Hippodamos After the invasion of the Goths in the
of Militos’s design for a city on a grid plan, third century A.D. the city was conquered by
which soon became the largest commercial the Byzantines, who in turn were besieged by
metropolis on the route between the Orient Persians and Saracens. Later on Venetians,
and the West. Conquered by the Romans in the Genoese and Byzantines would contest Rhodes
second century B.C., the city lost political until 1309, when the Knights of the Order of St
importance, but remained a flourishing cultural John arrived, patrons of the island until the
centre where great personages such as Caesar, Ottoman conquest of 1522.
Augustus and Tiberius, or intellectuals like
Cicero and Lucretius sojourned.
In the first century B.C. the historian
Pliny wrote that Rhodes possessed “3000
..
The Laocoon group, statues and 100 colossi”, referring to the
Hellenistic era
magnificent statues that decorated the city,
considered the most beautiful in all the
Mediterranean.
14

C H A P T E R 1
The medieval city
In the Byzantine era the city was already
entirely girded by walls, today still perfectly
preserved with their numerous towers and nine
gates. The Knights of Rhodes enlarged and
restored the city walls and affixed the coats of
arms of the Seven Tongues (the name given to
the knights’ various places of origin) and those
of the noble families of the Grand Masters. A
wide fosse or moat divides the double walls, in
places as much as 12 metres wide in order to
resist the Turkish cannon balls. From the walk
along the ramparts one enjoys a splendid view
of the medieval city which in 1988 was declared
a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Elephterias (or Liberty) Gate
introduces us into the monumental part of the stand the buildings of the Knights’ First
city, the so-called Collachium of the Knights. In Infirmary, which now houses the
Simi Square we find the ruins of a great Temple Archaeological Library, and those of the
of Aphrodite in the Doric style of the third Museum of Decorative Arts which preserves
Doric Temple of
century B.C. and, facing it, an ancient palace interesting objects from the craft traditions of
Aphrodite from the which houses the Art Gallery in which there can the Dodecanese. The fountain in the centre of
third century B.C.
be seen works by Greek artists from the the square is composed of an antique
nineteenth century to the present day. In a baptismal font and a column taken from the
second square, the platia Argyrokastrou, there early-Christian church of St Irene.
16

C H A P T E R 1
The monumental
stairway of the
New Hospital of
the Knights which
houses the
Archaeological
Museum
A little further on, in the square by the
Museum we find ourselves facing one of the
city’s most beautiful buildings, the New
Hospital of the Knights, erected at the end of
the fifteenth century. In the courtyard a stone
lion from the Hellenistic period holds the head
of a dead bull between his claws. In the large
rooms on the upper floor the Archaeological
Museum has been laid out, and is rich in works
of art: ceramics, funerary stele, grave goods and
sculptures (amongst which the crouching
Aphrodite, a head of the Sun God Helios, the
torso of a Kouros and a nymph with her arms
raised aloft) – testimonies to the extraordinary Late Hellenistic statue,
quality of Rhodian art which had its origins in known as the “Marine
Venus”
the sculptural tradition of the school of
Lysippos.
18 19

ARCHAELOGICAL MUSEUM OF RHODES ARCHAELOGICAL MUSEUM OF RHODES
5 6
1
2
1. Funerary stele from the
first century B.C.
2. Female head from the
early Hellenistic period
3. Statue of a nymph from
the first century B.C.
4. Aphrodite or Nymph,
late Hellenistic period
3 4
7
5. Kouros from Kamiros, sixth century B.C.
6. Funerary monument, fifth century B.C.
7. Aphrodite, known as the “Crouching Aphrodite”,
late Hellenistic period
20 21

C H A P T E R 1
Our visit to the monumental part of the
city continues along the Street of the Knights,
its severe medieval architecture still intact. The
perfectly-aligned buildings served as inns for
the pilgrims and were separated by chapels for
prayer and by several patrician palaces bearing
the arms of the Knights’ nations of origin. At the
top of the street there stands, in all its grandeur,
the fourteenth-century Palace of the Grand
Masters, with its great arched courtyard where
Roman-era statues have been arranged.
The Grand Masters’ residence lay on the
upper floor, and the palace is essentially a series
of great rooms, corridors and chapels,
decorated with a profusion of marbles and
mosaics, columns and statues. On show in one
of the rooms is the celebrated sculptural group
of Laocoön and his children being crushed by
the sea-snakes: this is a plaster copy because
the first-century B.C. original, work of the
Rhodian artists Hagesandros, Athanodoros and
Polydoros, is today to be found in the Vatican
Museums in Rome.
22 23

C H A P T E R 1
24 25

C H A P T E R 1
converted into a small museum) and of St
George, which the Ottomans transformed into
a mosque, while the adjoining monastery
became a medresse – a koranic school.
Ayii Apostoloi
The clock tower
Leaving the Palace of the Grand Masters
and walking towards the Clock Tower (clearly
visible at the highest point of the city because
during Turkish rule it marked the hour at which
the Greek inhabitants had to leave the city
The Mosque of
walls) we have the old town at our feet, and Suleiman
nothing could be lovelier than losing oneself
among the alleyways of the Christian, Turkish
and Jewish quarters. Churches, mosques,
crosses and minarets alternate, at times blurring
into one, and always counterbalancing one
another – now that the battles for dominion In the alleyways and little squares
over the city are long-passed. At the time of the around Sokratous Street one breathes in full
Ottoman occupation many churches were the Ottoman spirit, visiting the Mosque of
transformed into mosques simply by removing Sultan Moustafa with its truncated minaret and
A Turkish fountain
the sacred objects and replacing them with the flanked by the Yeni hamam, the Turkish baths.
Islamic mihrab, minbar and qibla, and naturally Not much further on we find the mosque of
adding a minaret. Many churches have been Retjep Pasha with a beautiful fountain, while in
re-consecrated without demolishing the the distance one can make out the gracious The Ibrahim Pasha
minarets, mute testimonies to a history that white minaret of the Ibrahim Pasha mosque,
Mosque, the oldest in
the city
lasted almost four centuries. built in 1531 immediately after the conquest.
Crowning a dominant position is the
finely chiselled minaret of the Mosque of
Suleiman with its red domes, whilst in front of it
we find the Ottoman Library with an interesting
collection of objects and books from the
Ayia Kiriaki Turkish period. A little further on there stand
the churches of the Holy Apostles (now
26 27

C H A P T E R 1
Ayia Triada from
the fifteenth
The entrance to the
century, with the
Mosque of Sultan
truncated
Moustafa and a
minaret of the
little fountain
ex-mosque
Penetrating into the heart of the Narrow houses, fountains, miniscule courtyards
Turkish quarter, churches and mosques really paved with kochlakes (the river-polished
do begin to blur: the Demirli Camii was once a pebbles), small shrines and scattered ruins from
Byzantine place of worship, the church of Ayios Hellenistic and Byzantine eras all form an
Spiridon is still topped by a minaret, the chapels intricate urban weave. Many lanes are
of Ayios Fanourios and Ayia Triada stand beside surmounted by stone archways in the style of
Hellenistic and the ruins of a Turkish palace and the church of old Jerusalem, and this was perhaps what the
Byzantine-era
ruins in the
Ayia Kiriaki also still flaunts its minaret which Knights intended, coming as they did from
centre of the city once belonged to the Buruzan Camii. Palestine.
The Retjep Pasha
Mosque,
constructed with
material salvaged
from medieval
buildings
28 29

C H A P T E R 1
The first Jews arrived on
Rhodes in the second
century B.C. and the
comunity slowly grew. In
the twelfth century many
Jewish intellectuals, like the
Spaniard Benjamin de
Tudela and the Italian
Meshulam da Volterra,
visited Rhodes and admired
the beauty of the houses,
Few traces remain The Jewish quarter extends into the the commercial activities
of the Jewish quarter and, in particular, the
where there once
eastern part of the city, but has conserved little
lived a large or nothing of the memory of the Jews who lived production of precious
Sephardic
here for more than a thousand years. Once cloth. After centuries of
community
passed the ruins of the gothic church of Ste peaceful cohabitation with
Marie de la Victoire one reaches the platia the Greeks and even the
Evreon Martirion (Square of the Jewish Martyrs) Ottomans, the community
with a monument in the centre of the square in collapsed under the
memory of the deportation of the Jews to the German occupation:
Nazi concentration camps in 1944. The only arrested, tortured and
synagogue to have survived is the recently deprived of their property,
restored Kahal Kadosh Shalom, which houses a the Jews were deported to
A black pillar recalls
museum dedicated to the history of the Jews of Auschwitz and only a
the deportation of the
Jews in 1944 Rhodes. handful survived.
34 35

C H A P T E R 1
Throughout the long sweep of her
often tormented history – from her occupation
and sacking by the Romans to the arrival of the
Knights from Palestine, from the Ottoman
dominion to the privations suffered during the
second world war – the city of Rhodes has
managed, despite everything, to conserve her
The character of the cosmopolitan vocation and her character of
city emerges in the generosity. The streets and palaces, the places
smallest details
of worship, the houses and every last corner of
the city offer us
a living proof
that here the
peaceful
cohabitation of
men of
different
cultures and
origins was
possible. Today
one still notes
the traces of
this amalgam,
both its
grandiose and
monumental
vestiges and the
small, modest
details that
From Medieval to make up a city
Neoclassical: every of particular
architectural style is
represented in
charm located
Rhodes on the farthest
edge of Europe,
looking out
towards the
Orient.
36

C H A P T E R 1
The harbour and the modern town From the Nea Agora, the circular New Market
with an oriental-style pavilion, one proceeds
along Eleftherias Avenue as far as the city’s
northernmost point. During the Italian
occupation, which lasted from 1912 to 1943,
various buildings – rather eclectic in aspect –
were constructed along this road which formed
the administrative centre of the city. Some are
in the typical rationalist style of the Fascist
The monumental regime, like the Tribunal with its heavy-
fifteenth-century Fort
Ayios Nikolaos looms
columned façade or the square ex-
over the harbour headquarters of the Air Force (nowadays the
Institute of Professional Training) which stirs Italian architecture
Tall columns surmounted by bronze deer and ugly memories because during the Nazi of the 1930’s
characterises the
the imposing St Nicolas Fort mark the entrance occupation it was here that Greek dissidents long, wide avenue
to the ancient Mandraki Harbour where, and Jews were held before being deported to that leads from the
Nea Agora to
according to tradition, the Colossus of Rhodes the concentration camps.
Kolumburno point
was once erected, his giant feet of bronze Some of the other buildings that face onto the
placed on either side of the harbour entrance. port are of a nobler and more fanciful aspect:
Old mills on the jetty
The bronze stag and
doe that are the
symbols of Rhodes
38 39

C H A P T E R 1
the large Prefecture complex vaguely recalls The casino (ex-Hotel
des Roses) and
Venice’s Doge’s Palace with its tracery, arches
Government House
and rose-windows, while the church of are the most
Evanghelismos was built in a neo-gothic style sumptuous of
the buildings
in a homage to the design of the ancient church created by the
of St John from the time of the Knights. More Italian architects
sober in appearance are the ex-Theatre and the
The neo-gothic
circular Fish Market, now being restored and it
church of
Evanghelismos too the work of Italian architects. In contrast, in
is covered with the former Hotel des Roses (today a much-
frescoes by the
great painter
frequented casino) the predominant style is
Fotis Kontoglou Moorish-colonial.
40 41

C H A P T E R 1
Arriving as far as Kolumburno point, which
sticks out into the sea like the prow of a ship,
one can visit the pavilion containing the town
Acquarium – the former Italian Hydrobiological
Institute – which exhibits a series of tanks with
the marine fauna of the Aegean.
Still in the harbour area, we would recommend
a visit to the Mosque of Murad Reis with its
beautiful onion-domed minaret standing
within a Moslem cemetery. Decorated
headstones emerge beneath the trees, while
dotted around the gardens are larger tombs
wherein there lie illustrious figures: pashas,
viziers and dignitaries of court, but also the
Turkish poet Mehmed Efendi.
The Aquarium is a
perfect example of
Italian rationalist
architecture
The modern city has nonchalantly absorbed
diverse styles and cultures which blend with The calm that now
reigns in the gardens
and complement one another, without of the Mosque of
clashing. Whilst the buildings of the old town Murad Reis makes
it easy to forget the
are packed as closely as a nut in its shell, the drammatic conflicts
city beyond the walls, in the area around the of the past
harbour, offers wide spaces with great tree-
lined avenues and buildings so generously
spaced out as to almost seem monuments.
Human society changes, and with it the needs
and demands of the living.
42 43

C H A P T E R 1
The Acropolis and Rodini Park
The Acropolis (also
known as Mount
On Monte Smith (or Mt Ayios Stephanos) there
Smith) looks down
stands the ancient acropolis of Rhodes which
over the city of conserves a very few isolated monuments like
Rhodes the Temple of Pythian Apollo, of which there
remain a few pillars in the Doric style. More
modest are the remains of a sanctuary
dedicated to Athene Polias and Zeus Polieus. The odeon was a small theatre for musical recitals and
competitions
The immense structure of the third-century B.C.
Stadium is, on the other hand,
easily recognisable; 201 metres
long, it still has several rows of
its tiered seating. The little
Theatre (odeon) between the
Temple of Apollo and the
Stadium was restored by Italian
archaeologists who
reconstructed the cavea. In the
area around this tombs dating
The stadion was back to the Hellenistic era have been found
invented by the
Greeks to host
along with the foundations of a gymnasium
athletic and of a nymphaeum.
competitions which
Rodini Park, to the south of the modern city, is a
were also religious
and educational in green oasis with woods, ponds, streams and a
nature wildlife reserve. In the archaeological area there
are numerous tombs hewn from the rock,
including the so-called Tomb of the Ptolemies,
the façade of which conserves a series of blank
pillars and of niches. The Doric columns of the Temple of Pythian Apollo
44 45

Following the victory in the Italian-Turkish war of 1911-1912, In 1935 Mario Lago, considered too easy-going and
R H O D E S
R H O D E S
the Treaty of Lausanne assigned the islands of the Dodecanese too much a friend of the Jews, was replaced with a figure
to Italy, and Rhodes became the seat of the newly imposed faithfully committed to Mussolini’s regime, Cesare de Vecchi. On
government. The Italian occupation of the Fascist period can be Rhodes the conflict with the local population intensified as they
divided into two phases: the first from 1923 to 1936 when the were forced to frequent exclusively Italian schools in order to
governor was Mario Lago, a peaceable and cultured man who subdue Greek culture and language. The new governor decided
summoned leading archaeologists and architects to the island to speed up the construction of rural colonies like Ayios Pavlos
O N
O N
to begin work on the excavations at Kamiros and to restore the and Kolimbia, where Italian workmen and agricultural labourers
citadel of Rhodes. were to be settled. In 1942, during the first air-raids by the
British, Cesare de Vecchi abandoned the island.
I T A L I A N S
I T A L I A N S
After the signing of the armistice on 8th September
1943, the Italians found themselves fighting against the German
troops. In 1944 the Nazis deported 5000 of the island’s
inhabitants to the concentration camps. On German surrender
the island became a British mandate and in 1947 Rhodes was
annexed to Greece.
At the same time he set about transforming the harbour area,
having new buildings designed, at times rather too exuberant in
T H E
T H E
their architecture but nevertheless creating an atmospheric
setting. Among the architects employed we find Pietro
Lombardi, the creator of much-celebrated buildings back home
in Italy, who designed the beautiful Thermai Kallithea and
curated the Rhodes Pavilion at the International Exhibitions of
Paris and Cologne. In 1925 the architect Florestano di Fausto
also arrived, a lover of the Moorish style and to whom we owe,
among other works, the Nea Agora, the Prefecture and the
Hotel des Roses.
46 47

The Knights resided in the so-called Collachium
within the walls around the Palace of the Grand
Master. They erected numerous fortifications,
churches and (Latin rite) monasteries and controlled
the lucrative commercial maritime traffic between
Orient and the West. Thanks to donations, excellent
commercial relationships and agricultural activity,
During the eleventh century in Jerusalem a group of rich the Knights’ financial wealth was immense.
In the summer of 1480 they repelled the first siege by
merchants from Amalfi built an inn for pilgrims which was run
the Ottomans who arrived on the island with 170
by Benedictine monks. Later the monks created an autonomous
ships and 100,000 men. It took the Ottomans 32
order dedicated to the care of the sick, but also to the defence of
years of battle before they managed to tear the
R H O D E S
R H O D E S
the Holy Land, called the
island from the Knights who finally surrendered to
Hospitallers of the Order of St John
Suleiman the Magnificent in 1522. On the 1st January
of Jerusalem. The order revealed its
1523 the Knights abandoned the island together
military character during the
with 4000 inhabitants of Rhodes, repairing to Malta.
crusades (milites Christi) and
There they recreated the confraternity under the
thenceforth its members would be
name of the Sovereign Military Order of St John of
called Knights.
Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta.
O F
O F
Following the Moslem conquest of
Palestine the Knights were expelled
and for a brief time found
K N I G H T S
K N I G H T S
hospitality on Cyprus. In 1306 they
were recruited by the Genovese
admiral Vignolo de Vignoli to
conquer Rhodes, at the time under
Byzantine dominion. In 1309 the
Knights succeeded in occupying
Rhodes and subsequently all the
T H E
T H E
islands of the Dodecanese,
becoming absolute masters for
more than two centuries with the
blessing of the Roman pontificate.
At the head of the Knights of
Rhodes was the Grand Master who
commanded the representatives of
the seven European tongues
(nations): England, France, Portugal,
Germany, Spain, Italy and Provence.
48 49

CHAPTER 2
FROM IALYSOS TO KOLIMBIA:
ANCIENT AND MODERN
ON THE WINGS OF A BUTTERFLY
IALYSOS
THEOLOGOS
AYIOS SILLAS
VALLEY OF THE BUTTERFLIES
ELEOUSSA
AYIOS NIKOLAOS FOUNDOUKLI
KAMIROS
THERMAI KALLITHEA
SEVEN SPRINGS

C H A P T E R 2
As we leave the city of Rhodes and its nearby
tourist-crowded beaches behind us, the island
reveals a very different aspect; it becomes more
silent, more shadowy and seems almost to want
to hide its treasures. The entire sweep of
Rhodian history is already compressed into this
first strip of the island: from the ancient cities
like Kamiros to the castles of the Knights, from
the Ottoman villages to the monumental
constructions of the Italians at the beginning of
the last century, one travels into a landscape
both changing and eternal like the Valley of the
Butterflies.
The bell tower of the church of
the Knights at Filerimos
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C H A P T E R 2
Another story that has been handed
Ialysos-Filerimos
down to us is that of the astute Iphicles, twin
Once one climbed on foot or on mule-back up brother of Hercules, who succeeded in chasing
off the Phoenicians who were entrenched on
to the summit of Mt Filerimos, a difficult climb
the acropolis of Ialysos. An oracle had The “miracle” of the
for the peasants and even more so for the fish is a legend: the
predicted that the Phoenicians would flee
enemy troops who over the centuries Phoenicians never
should white crows be seen in flight and should did occupy Ialysos
attempted to conquer Ialysos, the city-state
fish swim in wine. Iphicles won with a trick: he
that once stood at the summit of the hill. Its
painted a flock of crows with white lime and
mythical founder was Ialysos, grandson of the
placed fish in the barrels of wine. Worried by
Sun God Helios and the nymph Rodon, but in
such “magic” the Phoenicians surrendered.
reality the first settlement dates back to the
In the fifth century B.C. Ialysos became
Mycenaean period, halfway through the second
famous as the birthplace of the poet Timocreon
millennium B.C., as is testified by the remains
and the athlete-prince Diagoras of the clan of
found in the numerous necropoli that surround
the Eratides (descendants of Hercules), who as
Mt Filerimos.
a boxer was the winner of many Olympic and
Many legends grew up around the city,
Pan-Hellenic games. To Diagoras the great poet
like that of Phorbas, son of Lapithes, who
Pindar dedicated one of his most beautiful
succeeding in killing all the poisonous snakes
odes in which he
that infested the island and to whom, by way of
recalls the
thanks, a sanctuary was dedicated. In ancient
mythical creation
times Rhodes was lamented to be the “island of
of Rhodes, “With Diagoras of Rhodes
the serpents”, but now they are rarely to be
Diagoras I came, was one of the most
seen (thanks, perhaps, to Phorbas) and one is famous athletes of
to sing of the Greek world: a
more likely to encounter the big dragon-like
Aphrodite’s sea- statue of him was
but innocuous lizards that the locals call savres. even erected at
child, Rodon,
Olympia
bride of the sun”
(Pindar, Ode VII,
verse 13-14). The
chronicles
recount that this
ode was
Temple of Athene
inscribed in gold
Polias, erected in the letters on the
Hellenistic era
temple of Athene
in Lindos.
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C H A P T E R 2
In the tenth century the Byzantines
founded a monastery here, but in
1306 the acropolis was conquered
by the Knights of the Order of St
John and in 1522, during the
Ottoman siege of Rhodes, it was
here that Suleiman the Magnificent
established his residence.
Three millennia of history lie layered
one atop another at Ialysos: from
the Mycenaean necropoli to the
great Doric fountain ornate with
lions’ heads, from the imposing remains of a
third- or second-century B.C. temple
lower down one can still make out the figures
dedicated to Athene Polias to the gothic
The imposing complex with their mantles folded in a gesture of
of the Knights’ church
Basilica of the Knights built over a monastery
protection towards the knights-in-arms.
and monastery of the Byzantine era, then amplified with
Of the Byzantine fortification that
cloisters and courtyards. The entire complex
enclosed the entire summit of Mt Filerimos
has been restored with great care and has The frescoes of Ayios
there remain a few traces of the walls and the Georgios Chostos with
become one of the most visited places on
towers, from which one has a magnificent view saints and knights-
the island. in-arms
of the coast.
In front of the basilica, on the slope of
the hill and almost invisible, the little Byzantine
church of Ayios Georgios Chostos is to be
found. Even if the frescos have rather faded,
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C H A P T E R 2
The temple of Apollo at Theologos From Theologos one can continue
and Ayios Sillas towards the hills as far as the sanctuary of
Ayios Sillas in the middle of a great park with
tall trees, springs and vast enclosed lawns. It is
lovely, and very relaxing, to wander along the
avenues accompanied by the subtle noise of
the waters as far as the sanctuary’s little white
church. Every year in summertime the park
houses donkey- and horse-races, with
traditional dances and much drinking. There is
a masterly description of this festival in
Reflections on a Marine Venus by the English
writer Lawrence Durrell who lived on Rhodes
for a long time after the war.
At the edge of the village of Theologos we The sanctuary
of Ayios Sillas
find the ancient settlement of Tholos with the is simple and
remains of a sanctuary from the fifth or fourth unpretentious,
century B.C. dedicated to Apollo Erethimios, its great
attraction
protector of agricultural life and venerated by being the vast
the entire population living in the fertile lands park
surrounding here. Set into the bare
terrain one can still see the massive
stones of the temenos and the bolders
that formed the columns of the Temple
which must have had an imposing
appearance. A little way off, alongside
the modest ruins of the ancient
Apollo Erethimios was settlement, one recognises the cavea of
a pre-Hellenistic a small theatre, still perfect in its semicircular
divinity, protector of
those who worked the
structure and with traces of the stage formed of
land great river pebbles. The place is not particularly
pleasant, lying between the traffic of the coastal
road and the modern houses, but it is worth
visiting the Temple to remember that here
nature and the works of man once showed
themselves in all their vigorous beauty.
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C H A P T E R 2
At the entrance to the
park a Museum of Natural
History has been laid out,
displaying a myriad of
butterflies of all species stuck-
through with pins, and some
stuffed animals – examples of
the local fauna such as hares,
foxes, falcons, tortoises and
salamanders.
The Valley of the Petaloudes
and Moni Kalopetra
L ike miniscule divinities the butterflies of
Rhodes feed on a perfumed nectar, a sweet At the top of the valley there stands the
vanilla-flavoured resin that drips from the bark little church of Moni Kalopetra, a monastery
of a tree which grows uniquely here and is founded in 1784: white with red-paint edging,
similar to the plane-tree. For centuries and with a typical Rhodian floor of kochlakes,
thousands of butterflies have lived in this the river-polished pebbles, the church is simple
Valley of the Petaloudes without ever having and intimate, its ceiling painted sky-blue with
felt the desire to move on elsewhere, perhaps the odd splash of gold and a wooden
inebriated by the resin which serves to nourish iconostasis.
them, but is also used to make incense.
Externally, with wings closed, the butterflies
appear modest with their brown and cream
colours, but when they take flight they are
much to be admired for their brilliant orange-
red which illuminates the dense vegetation.
The butterfly is the poetic essence of beauty,
harmoniously symmetrical, evanescent and
graceful, and it would seem impossible that it
should have enemies, yet it does run risks: it is
the much-enjoyed prey of the red ants who kill
it with a single bite.
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C H A P T E R 2
Eleoussa
Continuing along the road which from Moni A shady forest of
pines covers the
Kalopetra penetrates into the thick forest of slopes of Mt Profitis
pines that characterises the landscape of the Ilias
northern part of the island, we enter the vast
territory of Mt Profitis Ilias. The first village we
meet is Psinthos which possesses two beautiful
frescoed churches, Ayia Trias and Panaghia
Parmeniotissa. However the village is also
famous because it is here that the battle took
place in which, in 1912, the Italians definitively
defeated the Turks, a victory which led to the
Italian occupation of the island.
The signs of the Italian presence
become tangible when one arrives at
Eleoussa, a little village on the side of the
mountain. In 1943 Eleoussa (which was then
christened Campochiaro) became the summer
residence of the Italian governor who ordered
that the inhabitants replant the forests of the
area.
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C H A P T E R 2
The little town was graced with a large,
rectangular, tree-lined square, flanked with
buildings in a very particular style which was
called “colonial” but that consists, rather, of a
Mediterranean mishmash (not unattractive, in
fact rather fascinating) with medieval,
renaissance and vaguely oriental references
and with a touch of rationalist architecture
thrown in.
The fanciful complex lies abandoned
and is much degraded, with the long portico
now breached, fountains invaded by the
weeds, balconies rusting, windows and doors
removed, glass broken and inside a field of
rubble formed of decorated tiles, falling
curtains and blackened fireplaces. One can still
make out the bright colours of the buildings’
plaster (Pompeii-red, pea-green and lemon-
yellow) and it is a shame that they have not
been restored, at least in part, even if one can
understand that the period of the Italian
occupation does not hold good memories. The
only restoration work done regards an Rare species of fish
immense circular pool at the edge of the swim in the circular
village, a veritable and lovely monument to pool
water.
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C H A P T E R 2
Ayios Nikolaos Foundoukli
on Mt Profitis Ilias
The mountain of Profitis Ilias is covered with
a compact, dark-green mantle of conifers,
where there alternate pointed limestone rocks
and a soft undergrowth which in springtime is
filled with flowers of every imaginable species,
some rare, such as little orchids and peonies.
Deep in the forest we find the church
of Ayios Nikolaos Foundoukli, one of the
island’s most beautiful. Foundoukli – which
windows that filter a golden light onto the The frescos which
means “hazelnut” – was once part of a cover the church
monastery complex now in ruins and was altar. The precious frescos represent the life of from top to bottom
erected by a high-ranking Byzantine official at Christ from birth to the resurrection, the date back to the
fourteenth or
the time of the Paleologhi dynasty, at some Apostles, almost cancelled out by time, the
fifteenth century
time in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, in founder with his consort who hold up the and have more than
model of the church and the Saints of the once been restored
memory of his three children dead of the
plague. In one of the apses one can glimpse the Orthodox church, among whom we see the
three little ones in a paradise of vines and birds, first hermit in history, St Onuphrius, entirely
being welcomed by the Christ Child. covered by his long grey beard.
The church was constructed with
apses on each of its four sides and with a central
dome with numerous niches and little alabaster
A part of the outer
walls of Foundoukli
was decorated with
ceramic plates and the
tympanum above the
entrance was also
frescoed
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C H A P T E R 2
Small places of devotion Continuing on our
wanders amid the
fields we arrive at Even the most modest
A beautiful panoramic road runs all the way the stone ruins,
of icons are full of
charm
around Mt Profitis Ilias, on the southern face of
submerged by
which there lies the small agricultural village of
giant prickly pears,
Apollona, with an interesting
of the abandoned
Folklore Museum, and on the
village of Nani. On
northern face the village of
a small mound,
Salakos, with its lovely
some way before
piazza and the kafenion in the
the houses, a
shade of the trees. Travelling
chapel has been
amid vineyards and orchards
erected dedicated to Taxiarchis Michail which
one reaches the village of
contains a fresco of the patron saint. Below the
Kapi, not far from Salakos,
iconostasis there hangs a reproduction of a
midway to which we come
famous icon of the Archangel Michael
across the little church of Ayios Georgios with
belonging to the great Taxiarchis Panormitis
remains of folk-art frescos among which there
monastery on the island of Simi, in Isolated as they are,
Ayios Georgios is one stands out that of the patron saint, upright on the little churches
of the saints most demonstration of the fact that the little church
his white horse and looking at us out of dark, are still regularly
widely venerated in of Nani was subordinate to that monastic whitewashed
Greece long-lashed eyes.
complex.
Turning towards Salakos and taking the road to
the coast, the eye is drawn to a curious “eco-
monster” construction: the unfinished skeleton
of a hotel complex in a Spanish Alhambra style.
Delusions of grandeur truncated at birth.
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C H A P T E R 2
The city-state of Kamiros ivy, animals and various floral patterns. The
local work in gold and ivory also became
famous throughout Greece.
In the third century B.C. the city was
gravely damaged by a series of powerful
seismic tremors that caused many buildings
and monuments to collapse. Kamiros was
rebuilt according to the dictates of Hellenistic
town-planning, but was then newly devastated
by a terrible earthquake in 139 B.C.. The
inhabitants abandoned the city and it has
never since been repopulated. Rediscovered in
the mid eighteenth century, Kamiros was
The ancient
settlement brought back up to the light by the Italian
of Kamiros archaeologists between 1928 and 1943.
The myth of Kamiros is linked to the first
inhabitants of the island, the amphibious
Telhines, children of the sea and great
inventors. The story tells that one of them, the
legendary Mylas, constructed, at Kamiros, the
first millstone, thus teaching men how to
produce flour and to bake bread.
The foundation of the city is attributed
to the Minoan Althemenes, son of Creteos, king
of Crete, and nephew of the powerful
The fountain
Minos, but in reality the first traces of a square
settlement date back to the Mycenaean
period, around the sixteenth or fifteenth
centuries B.C.. Towards the year 1000 The vast archaeological area that we
B.C. the Dorians arrived, and created at visit today is a typical example of a Hellenistic-
Kamiros the island’s third city-state, after era city, planned respecting the natural lie of
Site of votive Lindos and Ialysos. In the Archaic and Classical the terrain with three terraces and a precise
offerings
eras the city became famous for its skilled subdivision of public, sacred and private
craftsmanship and especially for the precious spaces.
vases of Fikellura, decorated with palmettes,
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C H A P T E R 2
Temple of Pythian On the lower level the vast agora High up on the acropolis the immense Archaic cistern and
Apollo, third to the fews remains
second century
stretches out and from here we access the pit of a sixth-century B.C. cistern awaits us; from of the temple of
B.C. Temple of Pythian Apollo in the Doric style with, here a system of gullies carried water towards Athene Polias
beside the podium, a pit into which the the city. Further on we find a 200 metre-long
offerings to the god were thrown. A second stoa with two rows of Doric columns once
sacred space, embellished with six columns that separated by water spouts that supplied the
bordered a fountain, was dedicated to the guest chambers. Beyond the stoa there arose
sacred ceremonies for the gods and the heroes the great temple of Athene Polias, protectress
of Kamiros. In the third sanctuary, it too on the of Kamiros, which crumbled miserably during
lower terrace, the sacrifices to the Sun God the earthquake of 139 B.C.: now only the
Helios took place. foundations can be seen and we have to read
the ancient chronicles in order to get any idea
of the magnificence of this sanctuary.
The labyrinth of
private houses
A labyrinth of narrow streets and
houses built one close up against another
characterises the compact tangle of the urban
weave. The houses are very small and some Esedra and pillar
might marvel at how man once adapted with inscription
near the altar to
himself to life in such mean rooms: we should
the gods
remember that life was lived in the open air,
among friendly gossip and arguments, business
negotiations and political meetings.
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C H A P T E R 2
Thermai Kallithea
The architect Lombardi
was for many years a
professor at the
Academy of Fine Arts in
Rome and had a great
A grand fountain marks
love of ‘design’. The
the entrance to
theatricality of the plans
Kallithea spa, once for Kallithea is
famous for its significant if we bear in
health-giving waters mind that Lombardi was
Enormous domes, oriental-style also famous as the set
arches, great circular fountains, porticos with designer for historical
“colossals” like Teodora
columns over which hibiscus and and Quo Vadis?.
bougainvillaea climb, wide rooms with mirrors
and stuccos, an atrium that seems stolen from
one of the villas of ancient Rome,
terraces that look over the cliffs and
the serpentine pathways through
Our journey continues on the other side of the the gardens: it all creates an
coast, starting out from Rhodes towards ambience of extreme luxury, exotic
Kolimbia. On the promontory of Cape Voda, in taste, and it is hard not to be won
where, dotted with thousands of coloured over by its charms.
beach umbrellas, the endless beach of Faliraki Recently the complex has
begins, in 1928 the Italian architect Pietro been subjected to a very detailed
Lombardi and the governor Mario Lago restoration, painted a blinding white
conceived the grandiose watering-place of (the original colours varied from
Kallithea, which has nothing to envy the pink to sky blue and turquoise), and
seaside resorts of Capri or the Venice Lido. it was reopened to the public in the
summer of 2007. A small beach and
a café created below the
overhanging rocks complete the
redecorated spa.
The health-giving waters of Kallithea
were already renowned by the ancients, even
at the time of Hippocrates, and attracted
visitors from east and west (among them the
Roman Emperor Augustus in person) who
came here to cure rheumatism, arthritis and
kidney complaints.
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C H A P T E R 2
entrance, a crowd of the damned who suffer
the torments of hell. There are also some votive
graffiti representing sailing boats and a trireme
(a galley with three banks of oars).
Panaghia Katholiki at Afantou
Our itinerary continues along the road that
runs parallel to sandy beaches and stretches of
cliff as far as the village of Afantou. The name
Afantou means “invisible” and in fact it is
located far from the coast: in Medieval times
the village lay beside the sea, but the Climbing up behind Afantou we arrive
inhabitants were forced to rebuild their homes at the monastery of Panaghia Paramithias
among the hills in order to escape the continual with modern paintings in a neo-Byzantine style
incursions by pirates. and a lovely icon of the Virgin wrapped in an
Of the original Afantou there remains embroidered shawl. The monastery is worth a
only the church of Panaghia Katholiki, visit because it is a place of absolute quiet,
erected in the twelfth century and heartily recommended to anyone who would
incorporating elements of a precedent early- like to abandon, for a moment, the confusion of
Christian basilica. The interior boasts a rare and the beaches and relax in a flower-filled garden.
very beautiful iconostasis in stone with traces of
paint. The whole of the church is fresco-covered
and alongside the more commonplace
Byzantine iconology it exhibits some unusual
scenes: the Virgin among the angels with the
biblical patriarch Isaac who holds up the soul of
a human
being, St Peter
who welcomes
Panaghia Katholiki the good thief The gardens of the
conserves fragments of monasteries are always
the original early- of Golgotha open to visitors in need
Christian church and, of a rest
immediately
next to the
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C H A P T E R 2
Between beaches and mountain springs
Returning to the coast one passes through
Kolimbia, one of the agricultural colonies
planned by the Italians in the 1930s and which
they called San Benedetto. Here nothing
remains of the old farmhouses that once lined
the avenue leading to the beach, even though
the new holiday homes do vaguely recall the
style of the older buildings. Of the previous
period there remains only the church of Ayios
Trifonas close behind the main road.
For those who prefer an excursion into
the woods we would recommend the ‘Seven
Springs’, or Epta Pighes. Travelling through a
The dense vegetation
at Epta Pighes has forest of tall pines one arrives at a pleasant
grown up thanks to the tavern with little tables dotted beneath the
abundance of the
spring waters
trees, and from here one can begin a fairly
arduous climb along the course of a stream that
is fed by seven springs. In times of drought
there is little water, but this remains a very
beautiful walk amidst a luxuriant nature. The
Italian engineers dug a gallery out of the
mountain to channel the waters of the Epta
Pighes into a small lake from which still-visible
aqueducts led as far as Kolimbia.
78 79

CHAPTER 3
THE CASTLES OF THE KNIGHTS
AND
THE DWELLING PLACE OF ZEUS
KRITINIA
Mt ATAVYROS
MONI ARTAMITI
MONI THARRI
MONOLITHOS

C H A P T E R 3
The defensive system of the Knights of the
Order of St John of Rhodes was extraordinarily
thorough: every promontory and every spur of
land – in themselves already natural defensive
positions – both along the coast and inland,
was utilized to build forts, castles and
watchtowers, at times recouping the pre-
existing Byzantine structures. In the almost 200
years of the Knights’ rule, the fortifications were
subjected to continual modifications, in line
with the evolution of ever-more powerful war
machines and new military strategies. Only one
place was never touched by the Knights: the
island’s highest mountain, Atavyros, which
remained the exclusive domain of Zeus.
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C H A P T E R 3
Kamirou Skala and Kritinia
Kamirou Skala was probably the ancient port
of Kritinia and today ferries still leave from here
for the island of Chalki. On a rock-face behind
the port one can see the façade of an imposing
funerary monument with a great tympanon
and two lateral niches, similar to the tombs of
Lycia in Asia Minor. The state of repair is very
The Lycian tomb
poor and, given the rarity of this type of
sepulchre on Rhodes, it merits greater
consideration.
From the height of the towers it was
possible to control a wide stretch of the coast,
often infested with pirate ships. A system of
The little harbour beacons, with fires warning of imminent
of Kamirou
danger, linked the castle visually with the
islands of
Chalki,
Alimia,
Makri and The castle of
Beginning the climb towards Kritinia,
even Simi. Kritinia with its
in the distance one sees the Knights’ Fortress, imposing towers
The fortress and battlements is
isolated on the crest of a hill that dominates the
is one of one of the island’s
coast of Kamirou. Erected in the fifteenth best conserved and
the island’s
century by the Grand Master Orsini, it was restored
best-
enlarged in the sixteenth century by the Grand
conserved.
Masters d’Aubusson, d’Amboise and Del
Within it
Carretto who had their family coats of arms
the Knights
sculpted on the external walls.
erected a
church
dedicated
Castle of the
to Ayios
Knights near
Kritinia Georgios,
partly built
with small
quarried
stones.
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C H A P T E R 3
Ayios Ioannis
Prodromos, small
and intimate
The flower-filled Continuing on upwards towards Mt Outside the village, protected by
village of Kritinia
Atavyros we visit the flower-filled village of ancient cypress trees, we find the little
Kritinia which owes its name to Crete (in Greek thirteenth-century church of Ayios Ioannis
Kriti), because the Minoan prince Althaemenes Prodomos. The oldest frescos have been
was supposed to have landed on the coast covered by paintings from the sixteenth
here, fleeing the motherland in order to avoid century, these too partly vanished and
killing his father Catreus, as had been blackened by the smoke of the candles.
prophesied by an oracle. But Catreus, missing A pretty road runs all the way round
his son, decided to visit Rhodes, and when his the Atavyros massif. The area’s most important
ship arrived at Kritinia in the middle of the town is Embonas, famous for its good wine, for
night, in the blind darkness, he was mistaken cloth-making and for the dances and
The coastline at
Kritinia for a pirate and killed – by his own son traditional costumes that are on show on feast
Althaemenes. Oracles never lie. days. At the end of the summer, after the grape
harvest, one sees great cloths stretched out
along the road: here what is left of the grapes
after wine-making is set out to dry and then In the area around
used, in the winter months, as nourishing Embonas there are
fodder for the goats. Breathing in the heady numerous vineyards
making a very good
perfume of these grape skins is almost as good wine
as being offered a well-seasoned roast.
At the entrance to Kritinia a Folk Art
Museum has been set up with a collection of
tools and peasant furnishings, beautiful
traditional costumes and handcrafted ceramics.
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C H A P T E R 3
Mt Atavyros
The most ancient part
of Moni Artamiti has
Circling around the eastern face of the
been destroyed. The
mountain (the highest peak of which reaches
monastery church 1216 metres), just below the level of the road
with its pretty one espies the bell tower of the Monastery of
iconostasis dates
back to the nineteeth Artamiti. In the courtyard one is welcomed by
century. a colony of cats who seem to be in charge of
the monastery. The earliest structure is the
church, dedicated to Ayios Ioannis, which dates
back to the eleventh or twelfth century, but the
numerous additions (like the graceful bell tower
and the low monastic buildings) have altered
its original aspect. On the inside, under a star-
speckled vault, one can admire a lovely wooden
iconostasis sculpted with icons of the patron
saints.
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C H A P T E R 3
A little further on we arrive at the
agricultural village of Ayios Isidoros where,
just in front of the cemetery, one can visit the
little white church of Ayios Georgios with
remains of frescos.
and one begins to see the coast. The last
stretch of the mountain is wire-fenced, but
there is an opening through which one can
pass. At that point, looking upwards, the eye is
caught by a pile of ragged stones.
Continuing our tour of the mountain,
Following ahead on foot towards those
right on a level with the turning for Kritinia and
rocks, one realises that this is not a natural
Embonas there begins the climb up towards
formation, but the work of human hands: we
Atavyros, along a dirt track suitable for cars.
have arrived at the legendary Sanctuary of
Even though there are no road signs, it should
Zeus, built of great, squared blocks.
suffice to keep one’s eye on the mountain peak.
On the bare mountain The landscape is extraordinarily beautiful, the Amid the jumbled
of Atavyros the track brushes against great meadows dotted ruins of the Temple
vegetation is very of Zeus with some
scarse and whoever
with low-growing Mediterranean vegetation effort one can still
wants to make the which gradually disappears to make way for a make out the temenos
climb on foot should and the square-cut
luminous stony land with pointed and
bear in mind that blocks that mark the
there are no trees to contorted boulders. Deep crevasses in the rocks entrance
offer any shade and dark
gorges score
the Atavyros
massif all the The temenos is still recognisable along with
way to the some of the stones of the columns, part of the
summit, plinth and the threshold at the entrance. Few
where the places possess a magic like that of this
horizon imposing Temple of Zeus which, according to
opens out the legend, was erected by Althaemenes,
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C H A P T E R 3
mythical founder of Kamiros, to expiate the Moni Tharri
killing of his father, the king of Crete. Ancient
authors like Pindar and Diodorus speak of the
Starting once again
from the road that
temple with admiration but also with fear,
runs round
because it was said that in honour of Zeus
Atavyros,
human sacrifices were offered here.
penetrating into the
heart of the island,
we continue on
towards Laerma,
following the course
of an emerald-green
torrent that digs out
its bed between the
rocks, creating a coil
of extravagant
forms.
The Monastery of
Taxiarchis Michail at Tharri (the oldest and
On top of the walls that surround the most venerated of Rhodes) lies amidst a forest
sacred enclosure travellers through the ages of pines. One legend tells that the monastery
have immortalised their passing, placing stones was founded on the exact spot in which an
one atop another to form pointed cumuli, like imperial princess of Constantinople dropped
Moni Tharri lies in a
clearing in the
the shepherds do to mark the movement of her ring, having arrived on Rhodes in the fourth middle of a pine
their flocks. In this way from a distance the century and here having recovered, forest
temple has acquired something of the aspect of miraculously, from a mortal illness.
a miniature “Ankhor”. From this altitude one
can see all of the island of Rhodes and on a
particularly clear day it seems that one can
make out the island of Crete.
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C H A P T E R 3
The frescos at Moni
Tharri date from the
greatest period of
Orthodox art, between
the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries
In reality the Monastery was built at
some time during the twelfth century, then
The church was originally dedicated to Christos
enlarged and embellished right up until the Sotir (Christ the Redeemer), but was successively
sixteenth century. The katholikon, the consacrated to the Archangel Michael "Tharinos"
monastery church with its drum-supported
dome, possesses a precious large icon of the
archangel Michael and a very beautiful
iconostasis of inlaid wood. The work of
decorating the church continued uninterrupted
for almost 500 years, and includes more than
20 frescoed panels. They represent Christ’s
miracles, a beautiful Last Supper and the life
of the Virgin, as well as the Apostles and various
saints. In the apse Christ appears represented
as Christ the King, holding the letters OQN,
meaning “He who is”.
The monks who live in the monastery
are directly subordinate to the ecumenical
patriarchate of Constantinople and dedicate
themselves mainly to the translation of sacred
texts.
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C H A P T E R 3
Monolithos Like the falcons
that hover in the sky we can
Another romantic itinerary, observe the castle from
again starting out from the above, built on a solitary
Atavyros region and this time rocky spur (mono-lithos) at
going south, is that along the 300 metres above sea level.
promontory which juts out The castle already existed in
towards the island of Chalki. the Byzantine era and was
After the village of Lakki, from amplified and fortified in
which one reaches the lovely 1476 by the Grand Master of
beach of Glifada, the road passes the Knights of Rhodes,
alongside the gorge of Glifada, Pierre d’Aubusson. Of the
formed of enormous, irregular antique constructions there
sheets of rock, striped ochre and remain the external walls, a
Glifada gorge grey. During the dry months one can penetrate few buildings, cisterns, a
for quite a stretch into the narrow gorge which chapel and the church of
forms a fantastical scenery. From Glifada one Ayios Panteleimon.
can also take a path that leads to the foot of Mt Despite its name, the rock of
Akramitis in a valley edged with conifers or, Monolithos is not a “single stone” because, The castle of the
Knights seems to
alternatively, choose the road on the opposite looking seaward in front of the Castle, one can
grow directly out of
side of the mountain which passes through see another rock, round and rough as a tortoise the rock
Siana and leads directly to the Castle of shell, emerging from the waters: this is the tiny,
The Monolithos coast
with the wide bay of Monolithos with an incomparable view across uninhabited island known as Little Strongoli. The miniscule little
Kerameni the bay of Kerameni and the nearby islands. island of Strongoli
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C H A P T E R 3
Descending towards the sea one
arrives, with some difficulty, at a small beach
with cliffs animated by zoomorphic shapes: a
horse seems to paw powerfully at the waves,
the stones look like grotesque masks and the
Wind and water have natural sculpture of a giant bird with an arched
sculpted the rocks on
beak stares at the waters. On the highest rock
the beach
we can see the remains of a wall that probably
once belonged to an old watchtower. The path
that flanks the beach passes in front of a series
of grottoes and niches with graffiti (perhaps
ancient tombs), and finishes in front of a little
church dedicated to Ayios Georgios.
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CHAPTER 4
THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT
AND
MEMORIES OF HUMBLE BEAUTY
MONI TSAMBIKA
ARCHANGELOS
CHARAKI
AYIA AGATHI
MONI KAMIRI
LINDOS
ASKLIPIIO

C H A P T E R 4
Fresco from the
church of Kimissis
tis Theodokou at
Asklipiio
Our itinerary now moves across to the eastern
side of the island, zigzagging between coast
and mountains. Here there are important
places like Lindos and Asklipiio with
magnificent monuments, but also little
churches, hidden away and all but forgotten.
The Lindos headland
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C H A P T E R 4
Moni Tsambika Archanghelos
The little town of Archanghelos is a Archanghelos with
the castle of the
jumble of white houses, built one against Knights
another, stretching out at the foot of the
fifteenth-century Castle of the Knights of the
Order of St John. Built in the shape of a gigantic
ship’s prow, the fortress has conserved a
large part of its walls on which there are
T he little church of Panaghia Tsambika, also sculpted, in relief, the arms of the
called “Our Lady on High”, sits like a bird’s nest Spanish Grand Master Zacosta and of
on the summit of a pointed mountain. To visit it the Italian Grand Master Orsini.
one needs a good pair of legs and a lot of puff At one time Archanghelos was the most
because the final stretch of the climb consists of populous city on the island and today it
300 steep steps, but once one has arrived at the still remains one of the most lively
top there is a spectacular view of the coast to villages, animated and attractive. The
Tradition has is that on be enjoyed. The houses are whitewashed every year and
the mountain top an church is a site of are embellished with brightly coloured
icon of the Virgin was
pilgrimage for decorations (sky blue, pink, yellow,
found with an oil lamp
burning beside it, and married couples turquoise) that form cornices and
that it was on this spot who desperately borders, curved or straight as a tensed
that the monastery
was founded hope for children, string, and which follow the irregular
and there are tales lines of the lanes, the steps and the
of numerous miniscule flower-filled courtyards.
miracles worked by At the centre of the village
the Virgin, even for couples who are getting on there stands the large white church of Ayios The imposing
Michail Archanghelos, with a very high bell bell tower of
in years. The little sacred icon of the Virgin, all
Archanghelos Michail
gold, is nowadays preserved in a protective tower (its dimensions out of proportion with
case in the large church which is part of the the rest) in the middle of a wide courtyard
monastery at the foot of the mountain. paved with a mosaic of kochlakes.
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Archanghelos has
conserved the traditional
atmosphere of the island:
the whitewashed and
coloured houses,
the narrow alleyways,
the little courtyards and
the local craftsmen's
workshops where the
eye is caught by ceramics
decorated with
animals, flowers and
geometric figures.

C H A P T E R 4
In a small square in the upper part of At about a kilometre beyond
Archanghelos there stands the cosy and Archanghelos on the left there begins a
intimate katholikon dedicated to Ayios Gavriel serpentine little road
Patitiri, a fifteenth-century church that which finishes at the
belonged to a monastery which no longer summit of Mt Profitis
The little church of
exists. The little chapel hides among the houses Ilias where the church Profitis Ilias stands
of the oldest part of Archanghelos and one of the same name on the summit of the
eponymous
does risk passing by without noticing it. stands. The
mountain
Illuminated only by the votive candles, the mountain’s natural
church retains an aura of mystery, and only platform is scattered
when the eye has adjusted to the darkness does with sharp rocks,
one notice the well-made frescos. Also worthy whilst along its edge one notices the remains of
of note is the church of Ayios Ioannis a crumbling wall. Here on the peak, surrounded
Prodromos in the highest part of the little town, by only wide empty space, one has the
with frescos from the fourteenth and fifteenth sensation of being master of the island, with a
centuries including a representation of a magnificent view 360 degrees around which
winged St John the Baptist who is unrolling a ranges across from the coast to the inland hills.
scroll.
Ayios Gavriel Patitiri is
not the most
important of the
churches in
Archanghelos, but
it is a precious little
gem
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C H A P T E R 4
The fishing village of Charaki, beneath
Charaki amid churches and castle
the castle, is built in the shape of an
amphitheatre around the bay, with low
The fortress of Feraklos Our journey continues along the coast where, cottages, little guesthouses and tiny taverns. It
rises on the site of the
from far off, the Fortress of Feraklos can be seen
acropolis of ancient merits a prolonged stay for its enchanting
Loryma, but no above the little harbour of Charaki, with its
position and its still crowd-free beaches: here
trace remains of the turreted walls girding the entire hilltop. In
ancient city calm and tranquillity reign, and the rhythm of
ancient times the city of Loryma stood here,
village life is that of days-gone-by.
while the first castle was erected in the
Skirting around the rock of Feraklos
Byzantine period and conquered by the Knights
one arrives at a lovely beach with fine sand; this
of Rhodes as early as 1306, immediately upon
too was an oasis of quiet until a few years ago –
their arrival on the island. With the castle they
but now the first constructions in concrete are
took possession of the entire feud – men,
beginning to appear.
animals and lands – creating the so-called
protaria, a legal right that sanctioned the total
and sole ownership and which permitted the
exercise of both civil and religious powers.
The cellars of the Castle of Feraklos
were used as a prison for those knights who
had erred or disobeyed the rules of the Order.
Looking at the strong external walls punctuated
with tall bastions, one understands why
Feraklos was famed as an impregnable
stronghold, so much so that it resisted the
attacks of the Ottomans right up until the end
of 1522 when the rest of the island had already
surrendered.
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C H A P T E R 4
Ayios Georgios Loryma and Moni Kamiri
Along a country road running
parallel to the large main road
for Lindos, amid the bare land
above a natural platform there
hides the little fourteenth-
century church of Ayios
Georgios Loryma. The frescos
Graffiti on the rocks Camouflaged by some golden rocks, are in part antique, but
beside Ayia Agathi
here we find the rock church of Ayia Agathi, unfortunately an inexpert hand has effected
used by the hermits who lived in the nearby some “restoration” – especially on the faces of
grottoes in around the twelfth century. The the saints – which contrasts with the precious
apse is formed of two niches behind a screen of original painting. In front of the icon of Ayios
rock that acts as iconostasis. Hewn entirely from Georgios, wrapped in his red cape, the devout
the rock, with remains of frescos, the church have hung fragile little horses woven of straw
looks very much like a catacomb. that swing, feather-light, in the semi-darkness
On the rock of the church.
face beside the church
one notes some
ancient graffiti
representing
Byzantine-Christian
symbols and even
some Jewish symbols
like, for example, the image of a large menorah,
the seven-branched sacred candlestick. What
mysterious traveller wanted to leave these signs
we will never know.
Recent additions are
clearly visible in the
frescos
The niches in the little
church of Ayia Agathi
have been carved out
of the rock
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C H A P T E R 4
In the courtyard of
the monastery of
Kamiri a great table
and numerous chairs
await the arrival of
pilgrims
Another road leads, instead, towards
the hills, following the course of a dry riverbed
as far as a high plain where there stands the
Monastery of Kamiri, one of the most silent
and atmospheric places on Rhodes. Enclosed
within the shell of its own high walls, the
monastery has retained all its antique beauty:
Returning to the main road we can Both the courtyard
the monks’ cells built around a great kochlakes- and the floor of the
pay a visit to one of the most ancient relics of church are covered
paved courtyard, the old well and an outdoor
the history of Rhodes: the Mycenaean with pebble mosaics
hearth surmounted by a beam of sculpted
necropolis of Pilona, which is reached via a
marble. The katholikon preserves some
path that begins at the entrance to the village
sixteenth-century frescos, while on the right-
and winds through the fields. The necropolis is
hand wall there appears a large icon with the
formed of six tombs from the fourteenth and
archangel Michael clothed in a suit of brilliant
thirteenth centuries B.C., which, because they
gold armour.
were never plundered, have yielded a great
quantity of valuable finds: pottery, idols,
Mycenaean tomb at
jewellery and a rhyton bearing the image of the Pilona
“Master of
Animals”, one of
the most important
divinities in the
Mycenaean
pantheon. For
those who would
prefer not to seek
out the modest
remains of the tombs, we recommend a visit to
Pilona’s two churches – Ayia Kira and Ayios
Georgios – with interesting frescos.
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C H A P T E R 4
In reality Lindos, the largest of the
three Rhodian city-states, dates back to around
1000 B.C. when the Dorians arrived here. In the
eighth century B.C. it became the most
important maritime centre along the route
travelled by the merchant ships between the
Orient and the West. In order to further extend
their sphere of influence, the inhabitants of
Lindos arrived as far as Sicily where they
founded Agrigento and Gela.
The Archaic period is held to be that of
Lindos’s greatest splendour, when it was
governed by the enlightened tyrant Kleoboulos
(one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece) who
Lindos had the first Temple of Athene Lindia erected
sacred and profane on the acropolis.
In the sixth to fifth century B.C. the city
According to the legend, the ancient city of joined the amphiktiones (religious
Lindos was founded by the son of Hercules, confederation) with Ialysos, Kamiros, Kos,
Tlepolemos, who had been exiled from the Halicarnassos and Knidos. The Persian invasion
Peloponnese to Rhodes following an of the fifth century B.C. led to the slow decline
involuntary homicide. Homer mentions of the city which nevertheless remained an
Tlepolemos in the Iliad as fighting alongside the important religious and cultural centre,
Trojans and tells that he was killed by Sarpedon. especially in the Hellenistic era.
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C H A P T E R 4
The acropolis and the city
The acropolis of Lindos rises above the
Stone relief
sea as though it is held up by the rocks
representing a ship
themselves and (as a Hellenistic epigram has it)
could fall seaward should the gods but wish so.
In the sixth century the Byzantines built a
fortress here which was conquered by the
Knights of the Order of St John in 1312. Under
the government of Pierre d’Aubusson, at the
end of the fifteenth century, the Palace of the Climbing the steps up to the Palace of
Grand Master was erected on the acropolis and the Knights we pass a relief representing an
now marks the entrance to the archaeological enormous trireme, carved into the rock in
area. around the second century B.C.. On the small
plinth in front of it in ancient times there stood
the statue of the Rhodian admiral
Aghesandros, work of the sculptor Pythocretos
Timocharis, author of the celebrated Nike of
Samothrace now in the Louvre.
The gate of the
Knights' castle and
the Byzantine church
Through the Palace of the Knights we can see
an imposing Hellenistic stoa with cisterns,
while to the right we find a Byzantine basilica.
Beyond the vast stoa we enter the Sanctuary of
Athene which occupies almost the entire
platform of the acropolis. The Doric sanctuary
was destroyed by a fire in the fourth century
B.C. and rebuilt in the Hellenistic era with
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C H A P T E R 4
The stairway to the
Propylaea
magnificent Propylaea, a monumental stairway
and a portico with two wings of columns that The Greek theatre
from the fourth
leads into the Temple, the sacred dwelling
century B.C., cut into
place of Athene Lindia. In comparison with the the rocks
grandiose constructions that lead up to it, the
temple is of surprisingly modest dimensions.
The so-called Tomb of Kleoboulos (the
tyrant, in reality, was not buried here) faces
onto the bay of Pallade and is built in the form
of a tholos with great squared blocks. Another
monumental tomb, that of Archocrates, who
was priest of the
Sanctuary of Athene
at the beginning of
the third century
B.C., is to be found Tomb of Kleoboulos
on the hill of Krana
and is partly hewn
The monumental In the area surrounding the acropolis we can from the rock. At the time of the knights this
stairway and the
visit several monuments that were once part of sepulchre was converted into a church and
Hellenistic portico
the ancient city. First and foremost the Greek given the name Frankoekklesia.
Theatre from the fourth century B.C., cut out of Meanwhile, on the Viglia promontory
the rocky slope and capable of holding up to the remains of an ancient Boukopion are to be
2,000 spectators. Above its tiered seating there found (where the sacrifice of bulls took place)
once stood a little Temple of Dionysus, to whilst lower down there is a grotto dedicated
whose cult the Tetrastoon was also dedicated, to Linthia, a divinity from Asia Minor predating
this being a colonnaded courtyard where the the cult of Athene.
feasts in honour of the god took place.
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C H A P T E R 4
Seen from above the city of Lindos
looks like a white bracelet girding the acropolis,
with its little streets and courtyards paved with
kochlakes that shine like pearls. Together with
Rhodes it is the island’s most-visited town, for
its houses and palaces with monumental
doorways and relief-decorated façades. Among
the churches one should not miss visiting the
Panaghia, in the centre of the town, with
noteworthy frescos from the fifteenth century.
An elaborately
decorated
seventeenth-century
house
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C H A P T E R 4
Reading the
names of the saints to
whom the churches are
dedicated one begins
to learn one’s way
through the calendar of
Orthodox saints, from
The little churches
Ayios Georgios to Ayios often house the
Zaccharias, from Ayii remains of antique
Cosmas and Damianos frescos, or have
been redecorated in
Asklipiio to Ayia Irini, from Ayios neo-Byzantine style
Ioannis to Ayios
Hovering above the little town of Asklipiio, Demetrios, and so on.
which overlooks the immense bed of a river of
pebbles that winds like a gigantic grey serpent
through the valley, there rises the Castle of the
Knights of Rhodes, which seems to be born out
of the rock. The fortress, with its great circular
tower, was constructed in the fifteenth century
to protect the population from brigands.
The town of Asklipiio is an agglomerate of
white houses with flat roofs that give them a
very oriental appearance. The town’s jewel is
the church of Kimissis tis Theotokou (the Death
The valley beneath hides amid its fields – or Dormition – of the Virgin) which stands
Castle of the Knights, a myriad of little churches, indicated by the high in the town, with its triple façade.
above Asklipiio road signs that do help a little in getting one’s
The central door
bearings among the labyrinth of pathways. leads into the oldest
They are almost all chapels with only one room, of the naves of the
church of Kimissis
their exteriors modest, but their interiors
tis Theotokou
preserving frescos that at times are
unsophisticated pieces of folk art, at others
paintings of great quality.
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C H A P T E R 4
The central nave of
the church
The centre of the church, in the form of
a Latin cross and covered entirely with very
precious frescos, is also its most ancient part,
dating back to the fourteenth century. The
fresco cycles adopt the usual compositional
pattern of Byzantine-Orthodox art, but their
expressiveness, their colours and their
treatment of the sacred themes reveal the
originality and the passion of the artists who
created this work of extraordinary beauty.
Walking in the nave one has the impression of
being enveloped in a great Holy Book: here
there are the stories of Christ, of Mary, of the
saints and of their miracles, the cycle of the
Creation of the World in which God holds up an
enormous iris and separates the heavens from
The little museum
the darkness. Some of the biblical stories are
attached to the very beautiful, including a cruel Expulsion from
church displays
Paradise and an expressive Sacrifice of Isaac,
holy relics, icons
and antique and we see luminous armies of angels, but also
manuscripts the legions of the Devil. The cycle illustrating
the Apocalypse of St. John is very interesting,
and features some terrifying details like the
Beast with Seven Heads, the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse and the demons and the
tortures of hell.
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Angels with trumpets announcing the Apocalypse
Scenes from Genesis: Adam and Eve taste the forbidden fruit A scene from Genesis: God finds Adam and Eve after they have eaten the
forbidden fruit
The prophet Daniel with the angel A scene from the Apocalypse: Death on horseback chased by
a group of the Saved

CHAPTER 5
SAINTS AND PIRATES
THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEA
AYIOS GEORGIOS O VARDAS
AYIA IRINI
PROFILIA
AYIOS PAVLOS
PRASONISSI

C H A P T E R 5
Apolakkia and the churches nearby Ayios Mamas, the pipe-playing patron saint of
shepherds and of their flocks) and an evocative
Entry into Jerusalem. In the apse the Blessed
Virgin appears with the archangels, while on
both sides of the nave we can see stories from
the life of Christ and, above the door, the Death
The artificial lake of the Virgin.
of Siana
On the way out of the village of Siana a dirt
track descends steeply towards the valley,
creeping through a landscape made up of low,
dark-barked bushes that stand out like black
paper silhouettes against the almost-white and
dusty soil. At the bottom of the valley a dam has
been constructed creating a muddy-shored
lake whose waters are an unnatural turquoise.
Arriving at Apolakkia, it is not easy to find the
Ayios Giorgios many churches dotted among sown fields and
o Vardas has some
copses: rare road signs give vague directions,
very beautiful frescos
but it is, nonetheless, worth the effort.
The church of Ayios Georgios o Vardas,
founded in the thirteenth century, is to be
found in a
woodland Following a path that runs almost
clearing: the parallel to that for Ayios Georgios o Vardas, and
Byzantine crossing the bed of a dry river, one arrives at
frescos are the little church of Assomaton Ayii Michail
among the and Gavriel with remains of frescos and a
oldest on the beautiful wooden iconostasis. Once back on
island and, the asphalted road, a few kilometres ahead one
even though some pieces are now missing, can follow the sign for Ayios Ioannis, a lovely
they preserve lovely images of the saints Byzantine church with fourteenth to fifteenth
(among them century frescos.
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C H A P T E R 5
the floor of the central nave one notes the
remains of peacock-shaped mosaics. Ayia Irini
was striped of its treasures at the time of the
knights and two of its columns were
incorporated into the courtyard of the Palace
of the Grand Master in Rhodes City.
Profilia
A road, all curves, climbs back up from
Even if scant, the ruins of the early the valley towards the village of Istrios and then
Christian basilica dedicated to Ayia Irini are drops again towards Profilia with its white
very interesting. On the road for Arnitha a sign houses lying on the slope of the hill like lizards
seems to point generically towards the in the sun. In the cemetery at the entrance to
cultivated fields and in effect one does have to the village there stands the large church of
scramble along the ruts of the ploughed land Christ’s Nativity, neither ancient nor modern,
until some ruins become visible on a little rise. but nevertheless attractive thanks to the recent
This basilica – which was originally divided into frescos that illuminate the nave with a
Every one of the three churches – was once one of the most symphony of bright colours. Decorated by the
early-Christian
important sacred buildings on Rhodes, dating hand of an artist who has learnt the lessons of
churches has met with
destruction and many back to the sixth or seventh century. The outer The Byzantine
architectural fragments walls, part of the apse and a large baptistery in tradition of painting
have been removed has survived up to our
and reused
the shape of a four-leaved clover all survive. own times: a good
Rising from the ground there are some marble example is offered by
the frescos of the
columns and fragments of capitals, while on
large church at
Profilia
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C H A P T E R 5
the old
Byzantine
painters well,
the church’s
images
The quire, which was respect the
once reserved for the Byzantine
womenfolk, has now
tradition and
fallen into disuse
it is an
excellent
example of
the
unchanging
continuity of woman spinning wool, her spindle held high
Orthodox religious art through the centuries. and beside her a wicker cradle. Perhaps this
The entire floor is covered with kochlakes loving scene of country life was once part of
mosaics. The church still possesses a quire the representation of the Nativity of the Virgin.
(once reserved for the womenfolk) in which
some carefully polished vessels have been
placed along with a few chairs and a wooden
cross.
But Profilia’s most beautiful church is
the tiny church of Ayios Georgios, built in the
sixteenth century on a mound at the edge of
the village. It might seem strange, but the
entrance is to be found up against a welcoming
tavern which serves delicious home-baked
bread, very nice wine and good traditional
cooking.
The church’s frescos are, in part, well
preserved and respect the classical
iconography which includes Christ and the
The church furnishings are
Madonna, and the soldier saints Michail and
Niche with Byzantine poor, but the frescos are
inscription in Ayios
Georgios – one on a red horse, the other on his noteworthy
Georgios white charger. Getting onto one’s knees it is
possible to admire an unusual scene – a young
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C H A P T E R 5
The altar that can
be seen behind the
iconostasis is formed
of a column
taken from an
archaeological site
Between Vati and Gennadi The small church of Profitis Ilias also
has the same type of altar, taken from an older
Along the road that links the western and building, but here it is painted a bluish grey like
eastern coasts of the island the landscape is the iconostasis.
dotted with little churches, their plaster snowy Between the coast
white, and it is well worth visiting a few. The and the inland hills,
religious buildings, even when modest, are between Gennadi,
almost always set within a very beautiful natural Lachania and
frame, and even when their frescoes have all Arnitha, there is a
but disappeared, the decoration of their myriad of similar
interiors has a theatrical charm of its own. little churches to be
The little church of Ayios Ioannis discovered,
Prodromos crowns a small hill close to the sometimes frescoed
road. In its single room we can see a wooden and with stones
iconostasis which hides an altar in the apse, salvaged from more
formed of an antique column and a marble slab. ancient buildings.
Even the smallest of
the churches
conserves beautiful
images that render it
particular
The crystal-clear
waters of the
Gennadi coast
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C H A P T E R 5
Ayios Pavlos
Halfway along the road that
cuts clean across the tip of the
island from Kattavia to
Hochlakas, the eye is drawn by a
singular monumental complex
in a bare landscape: this is Ayios The clock on the bell tower is stopped The nave of the church
of Ayios Pavlos, totally
Pavlos, which at the time of the at 4.00 pm, the hour of the collapse, when, in abbandoned
Italian occupation was 1942, the settlement was abandoned in fret
christened San Marco. The and fury following the first Allied bombings.
explanation is simple: on Rhodes To reclaim the flat and arid ground, where in
the Italians decided to create a the summer one sweats beneath a baking sun
series of agricultural settlements and in the winter there blows a diabolic wind,
modelled on the rural colonies founded by Tuscan peasants were settled here – experts in
the Fascist regime back home. So at the end the clearing and hoeing of uncultivated land.
The church and bell
tower of Ayios Pavlos of the thirties the village of San Marco/Ayios Now the complex lies crumbling along
Pavlos was born, with a large, cloistered the side of the road and in the immense
church, a school, warehouses, granaries, church, with its high vault that still bears the
factories and farmhouses. traces of a faded sky blue, the birds make their
nests. The plots of agricultural land are still
divided into rigid squares, each with its own Isolated farmhouses are
farmhouse, some still partly in use as stables or still to be found dotted
among the fields
for storing tools.
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C H A P T E R 5
In the distance one can see the spectral The Kattavia coast
outline of what was once a silk factory: now
there is nothing behind its monumental S topping off at Kattavia, we can reach the
gateway, only rusty tubes that creak with every thirteenth-century church of Kimissis tis
gust of wind. Theotokou which stands in the cemetery,
hidden between tall cypresses. The noteworthy
frescoes, which date back to the seventeenth
The gateway to the century, include an unusual representation of
disused silk factory. the Apocalypse.
Here the silkworms
were farmed and the
silk was spun, but the
fabric was woven in
Rhodes.
The impetuous force of the wind that
blows on this part of the island is perhaps the
reason why the beautiful beach of dunes The road runs along an endless
running along this stretch of coast has not been beach, empty and uninhabited. Amid dunes
made use of for tourism. The uncontaminated and pebbles, the coast here transmits a sense
beach of Ayios Georgios, which extends for of infinite solitude and even of sadness: the
kilometres beyond the fields, seems unreal, shore is a mass of detritus brought by the sea
with no sign of humans, buildings or even tents, which often roars angrily here, lifting up
furrowed gigantic waves. Broken sticks, tins and pieces
only by the of plastic make a desolate scene of this
ephemeral beach, so beautiful when seen from far off.
tracks of
animals
which soon
vanish
beneath the
eddies of
fine sand.
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C H A P T E R 5
The Prassonissi
lighthouse on the
furthest point of the
island
The black ship-like Looking towards the horizon one
rock that seems to
notes the compact outline of a black rock with
float amid the waves
strange peaks that suggest the shape of a
phantom ship at the mercy of the waves. One Prassonissi
legend tells that this rocky island really was
once a pirate ship, turned, by some divine hand,
to stone when the corsairs prepared to land on
The Prassonissi peninsula is linked to the
mainland by an isthmus of golden sand which
the coast in order to attack the Monastery of
can be crossed on foot but… during the tourist
Skiadi.
season it seems instead to be a racetrack for
Following the coastal road between
four-wheel-drives. Here windsurfers meet up
fields of melons and watermelons, a short
along with enthusiasts of other water- (and
deviation leads to the few remains of the early
acrobatic) sports, enticed by the strong wind
Christian basilica dedicated to Ayia Anastasia
and by the waves. To get away from the
Zonara, now almost swallowed by the terrain.
confusion one has to climb up above the
Between
promontory as far as the lighthouse, built The Prassonissi
brushwood isthmus, lapped by
hanging over the open sea where the waves
and the waves
foam against the rocks.
brambles
one
recognises
the apse,
Half-covered by the some
soil, fragments of the capitals,
marbles of Ayia
Anastasia Zanara marble slabs
protrude from the from the plinths and panels bearing religious
terrain
inscriptions and reliefs. Unfortunately this is the
fate met by many early Christian buildings:
once the archaeological excavations are over
the site drops back into sleep, left, by man’s
carelessness, to the wind and the rain.
150 151

152 153

Chronology
5th millennium B.C. Late Neolithic Age, first cave settlements
3rd millennium B.C. First contacts with the Minoans of Crete
2nd millennium B.C. Arrival of the Achaian-Mycenaeans
1000 - 500 B.C. Dorian and Archaic periods; creation
of the three city-states
Lindos, Kamiros and Ialysos; dictatorship
of Kleoboulos
5th - 4th century B.C. Classical period; maritime trade
flourishes; foundation of Rhodes in 408 B.C.
4th - 3rd century B.C. Hellenistic period; apex of the island’s artistic
splendour; Rhodes boasts a population
of 80,000
2nd century B.C. – 3rd century A.D.
Roman period; St Paul arrives on the island;
initial diffusion of Christianity
4th century A.D.-1309
Byzantine period; conflicts with Persians
and Saracens; Venetian and Genoese trading
posts
1309-1522 Rule of the Knights of the Order of St John
of Jerusalem; Rhodes becomes the principal
centre of commerce between East and West
1523-1912 Ottoman rule; Greeks, Turks and Jews live
on the island; from the seventeenth to the
nineteenth century conflicts with the
Turkish authorities
1911-1923 Italian-Turkish war on the island; the Italians
occupy Rhodes
1923-1943 The island is governed by the Italians;
restoration of many monuments and
important construction projects undertaken
1943-1946 The Germans occupy the island; deportation
of Jews and Greek dissidents to the
concentration camps; in 1945 the Germans
surrender to the British army
1947 Rhodes is annexed to Greece
157

Glossary
TEXT
Acropolis ancient citadel, the highest part of a Greek JUDITH LANGE
city PHOTOGRAPHS
Agora centre of public life, marketplace JUDITH LANGE - MARIA STEFOSSI
Amphiktiones religious confederation protecting places
DESIGN - LAYOUT
of worship MARIA STEFOSSI
Ayios – Ayia Saint, holy
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Baptistery chapel containing the baptismal font JULIA MACGIBBON
Cavea semicircular tiered seating in Greek
COLOR SEPARATION - PRINTING - BINDING
theatres (auditorium)
BIBLIOSYNERGATIKI S.A.
Gymnasium ancient school for gymnastics and the
study of music and the written word
Iconostasis dividing screen (in wood or stone) that
separates the altar from the nave in
Orthodox churches
Hamam Turkish baths
Katholikon church or chapel within a monastery
Kafenion coffeehouse
Kochlakes mosaic of river pebbles, typical of both
interior and exterior paving on Rhodes
Kouros archaic male nude statue, youth
Medresse koranic school attached to a mosque
Mihrab the niche in a mosque reserved for the
prayer leader
Odeon small theatre for concerts and lectures
Panaghia the Blessed Virgin
Platia town square
Propylae monumental entranceway with columns
and porticos
Qibla in the mosque it indicates the direction of
The authors
Mecca
Stoa rectangular portico Judith Lange is a journalist, photographer and painter,
Temenos sacred precinct Maria Stefossi is a photographer, graphic artist and editor.
Tholos circular tomb with a conical roof Both are great travellers. They have published numerous books together,
among the most recent of which are: Ancient Theatres, Ancient Stadia,
Crete, Mani, Drama , Humble Beauty and Discover the unknown Crete.
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