Encyclopedia
Rhodes, is the largest of the Dodecanese islands, and easternmost of the major islands of
Greece in the
Aegean Sea. It lies approximately 11 miles west of
Turkey, situated between the Greek mainland and the island of
Cyprus. Its population in 2004 was 110,000 , of which between 55,000 and 60,000 resided permanently in the city of Rhodes, the main commercial and population center. Rhodes is the capital of the District of the Dodecanese and of the Province of Rhodes, which also includes the nearby islands of
Symi,
Tilos, Chalki and
Kastellorizo.
Historically, it was known for its
Colossus of Rhodes, one of the
Seven Wonders of the World. The medieval city is a
World Heritage Site.
Geography
The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead, 79.7 km long and 38 km wide with a total area of approximately 1,398 km² and a coastline of approximately 220 km. The City of Rhodes is located at the far northern end of the island, including the site of the ancient and modern commercial harbor. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.
The
flora and
fauna is more closely allied to that of Asia Minor than it is to that of the rest of Greece. The interior is mountainous and sparsely inhabited, covered with forests of
Turkish Pine and
Cypress and abundant fauna including the Rhodian
deer. Features include the so-called Petaludes or Petaloudes Valley, or Valley of the
Butterflies, where tiger moths gather in summer; Mount Attavyros, at 3,986 ft the island's highest point of elevation; and the appropriately named Seven Springs area. While the shores are rocky, arable sandy strips exist where
citrus fruits,
wine grapes, vegetables, and other crops flourish in the
Mediterranean climate.
Outside of the city of Rhodes, the Faliraki resort,
Lindos, Haraki,
Pefkos,
Archangelos, Afandou, Koskinou, Embona , and Trianta are significant. The economy of the whole island is geared toward
tourism; the island's primary source of income.
History
The island was inhabited in the
Neolithic period, although little remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC the
Minoans came to Rhodes, and later Greek mythography recalled a Rhodian race they called the Telchines, and associated Rhodes with
Danaus; it was sometimes nicknamed
Telchinis. In the 15th century the Achaeans invaded. It was, however, in the 11th century that the island started to flourish, with the coming of the Dorians. It was the Dorians who later built the three important cities of
Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros, which together with
Kos,
Cnidus and
Halicarnassus made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis.
In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of
Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhode, and the cities were named for their three sons. The
rhoda is a pink
hibiscus native to the island.
Invasions by the Persians eventually overran the island, but after their defeat by the forces from
Athens in 478 BC, the cities joined the
Athenian League. When the
Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and had decided to go her own way.
In 408 BC the cities united to form one territory, and built a new capital on the northern end of the island, the City of Rhodes: its regular plan was superintended by the Athenian architect Hippodamus. However the Peloponnesian War had so weakened the entire Greek culture that it lay open to invasion. In 357 BC the island was conquered by
Mausolus of Halicarnassus, then fell to the Persians 340 BC. But their rule was also short and to the great relief of its citizens, Rhodes became a part of the growing empire of
Alexander the Great in 332 BC after he defeated the Persians.
Following the death of Alexander his generals vied for control of the kingdom. Three of them,
Ptolemy,
Seleucus, and
Antigonus, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in
Alexandria, and together they formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance which controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center and its coins were in circulation almost everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy and science and literature and rhetoric, shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetorician
Aeschines who formed a school at Rhodes; Apollonius of Rhodes; the astronomers Hipparchus and Geminus, the rhetorician Dionysios Trax. Its school of sculptors developed a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as "
Hellenistic Baroque".
In 305 BC, Antigonus had his son,
Demetrius besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created huge
siege engines including a 180 foot battering ram and a
siege tower named Helepolis that weighed 360,000 pounds. Despite this engagement, in 304 BC, after only one year he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god,
Helios, the statue now known as the
Colossus of Rhodes.
In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a treaty with Rome, and became a major schooling center for Roman noble families, and was especially noted for its teachers of
rhetoric, such as Hermagoras and the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics. Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city.
In the
1st century AD, the Emperor
Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes, and
Saint Paul brought
Christianity to the island. In 395, the long
Byzantine Empire period began for Rhodes, when the
Roman empire was split and the eastern half gradually became a Greek empire. Although part of Byzantium for the next thousand years, Rhodes was nevertheless repeatedly attacked by various forces. It was first occupied by Muslim forces of
Muawiyah I in 672. Much later, Rhodes was retrieved for the
Byzantine Emperor
Alexius I Comnenus during the
First Crusade.
In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end when the island was subjugated by forces of the
Knights Hospitaller. Under the rule of the newly named
Knights of Rhodes, the city was rebuilt into a model of the European mediaeval ideal. Many of the city's famous monuments, including the
Palace of the Grand Master, were built during this period.
The strong walls which the Knights had built withstood the attacks of the
Sultan of Egypt in 1444, and of Mehmed II in 1480. Ultimately, however, Rhodes fell to the large army of
Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522. The few remaining Knights were permitted to retire to the
Kingdom of Sicily. The Knights would later move their base of operations to Malta. The island was thereafter a possession of the
Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries.
In 1912, Rhodes was seized from the Turks by the
Italians, and in 1947, together with the other islands of the Dodecanese, was united with Greece. It thus bypassed many of the events associated with the
"exchange of the minorities" between Greece and
Turkey.
Throughout much of its history Rhodes had a thriving
Jewish Community. From the 1500s on most of this community were Ladino speakers. During
World War II Nazi Germany occupied the island and deported the Jews. Although most met their demise in various
concentration camps, a few survived thanks to the intervention of the Turkish consul general,
Selahattin Ulkumen. A remnant of the Jewish community can be found in Rhodes. The maintains a history of the community. Descendants of the "Rhodeslies" now have communities in various parts of the U.S., Europe and Africa.
Important historical monuments
Some of the most important monuments on Rhodes island include the Acropolis of
Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes, Ancient Ialysos, Ancient Kamiros, the Archaeological Musem, the Elaphos & Elaphina and hotel, the Governor's Palace, Rhodes Old Town , Rhodes Post Office and the St. Catherine Hospice. Also worth visiting are the Castle of Monolithos and the castle of Kritinia.
Trivia
The majority of exterior scenes for the films,
The Guns of Navarone and "Escape to Athena" were filmed on Rhodes.
External links
