Rhodes
| The History Of Rhodes | |
Rhodes
(Ródhos) is deservedly among the most visited of all Greek islands. Its star
attraction is the beautiful medieval Old Town that lies at the heart of its
capital, Rhodes Town – a legacy of the crusading Knights of St John, who used
the island as their main base from 1309 until 1522. Elsewhere, the ravishing
hillside village of Líndhos, topped by an ancient acropolis, should not be
missed. It marks the midpoint of the island’s long eastern shoreline, adorned
with numerous sandy beaches that have attracted considerable resort
development. At the southern cape, Prassoníssi is one of the best windsurfing
spots in Europe. If you want to escape the summer crowds, take a road trip into
the island’s craggy and partly forested interior: worthwhile targets include
the castles near Monólithos and Kritinía, and frescoed churches at Thárri,
Asklipió and Áyios Yeóryios Várdhas | |
| The City | |
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The largest town on the island, Rhodes Town straddles its northernmost headland, in full view of Turkey less than 20km north. The ancient city that occupied this site, laid out during the fifth century BC by Hippodamos of Miletos, was almost twice the size of its modern counterpart, and at over 100,000 held more than double its population. While the fortified enclave now known as the Old Town is of more recent construction, created by the Knights Hospitaller in the fourteenth century, it’s one of the finest medieval walled cities you could ever hope to see. Yes, it gets hideously overcrowded with day-trippers in high season, but at night it’s quite magical, and well worth an extended stay. It makes sense to think of it as an entirely separate destination to the New Town, or Neohóri, the mélange of unremarkable suburbs and dreary resort that sprawls out from it in three directions. It
was the entrance to Mandhráki harbour, incidentally, that was supposedly
straddled by the Colossus, an ancient statue of Apollo erected to commemorate
the 305 BC siege. In front of the New Town, the harbour is today used largely
by yachts and excursion boats |