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"Rhodes" comes from the Greek word for "rosy." Mother taught me
about Homer's references to the "wine-dark sea" and the "rosy-fingered
Dawn" (eos rhoditidactylos). It was dawn as we docked in the old walled harbor of
Rhodes and the beauty of the city slowly unfolded as we savored our breakfast on the upper
deck.
Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and
chanting the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; but when the sun
went down, and it came on dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of
the ship, and when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail
for the host of the Achaeans. Homer. The Iliad, book 1.
The island of Rhodes is one of the sunniest spots in the Mediterranean. It is a
year-round resort for Europeans, and tourism is far and away the number one enterprise.
Being there in the off-season, we did not have to put up with any crowds, which made it
all the more pleasant.
 When the arrival formalities
were completed, we went ashore and climbed the mediaeval fortifications right alongside
the pier. Starting in the thirteenth century, Rhodes was controlled by the order of
Knights Hospitaliers of St. John who, from then until the sixteenth century continued to
build better and better fortifications. The Turks captured it from the Knights after a
long siege, and held it for 400 years. Italy got it after World War I, and it finally
became part of Greece in 1945.
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We had the morning free so we wandered up into the old city, through narrow streets,
past ancient buildings, peering into flowered courtyards, it was a step back in time that
delighted us. |
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We even found a library! |
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 Our wandering,
however pleasant, was not aimless. We ended up at the palace of the Grand Masters, an
imposing castle from which Rhodes had been ruled by its foreign masters. We bought our
tickets and enjoyed a very good multimedia show on the history of Rhodes as a crossroad of
the Mediterranean. After the show we wandered through the palace eavesdropping on various
tour groups.
  It
turns out that during the Axis occupation (which incidentally saw the entire Jewish
population of Rhodes shipped off to concentration camps) Mussolini decided that the Palace
of the Grand Masters would be a grand summer place for when he had more time. It was
originally completed in the 14th century and survived intact until the Great
Gunpowder Explosion of 1856 so Mussolini brought in an army of craftsmen to fix up the
damage. Now Il Duce's idea of archeology was to go dig up things and have them brought to
him, so the Palace floors are made up of restored mosaics from the various Hellenistic and
Roman villas whose ruins dotted Rhodes and the surrounding islands.
    
Now it was time to go back to the ship for lunch and our afternoon tour. We tried
simply going downhill, but the streets through the various sections of town always took
interesting turns. Finally, one more Greek word that mother had taught me came back. I
approached a resident saying "Parakalo?" (If you please?) He (or she, for I
repeated the inquiry a couple of times) would repy "Néh?" (Yes?) and I would
say "Thalassa?" (The sea?) They would smile, and point towards the harbor, and I
would say "Efharisto" (Thank you). All in all it was a very pleasing
conversation. And we got back in time for the tour.
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We discovered that the tour couldn't include the city since the busses
couldn't fit through the gates and down the streets. This gave much more meaning to our
morning expedition. |
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We went down the coast to Beautiful Lindos, which was one of the three city states
that divided the island before they united to found the city of Rhodes. The ruins of
Lindos are on top of a mesa with the modern current fishing village
nestled around the base. |
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 As we climbed the steep
streets of the village, we noticed how the name "Beautiful Lindos" fit with the
doorways and pebble mosaics along the way |
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Above the village, a wandering path that led to the steps that led to the top
(extremely steep), we got wonderful views of the jumble of 15th Cent. homes still used
today. It was just like all the posters you see of white-washed Greek fishing
villages. |
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 A the top of the path a long
flight of stairs led up to the entrance to the citadel. At the base was a life sized
bas-relief of a ship dating back to the earliest city on the site, around 600 BC |
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Age stood beside age inside the walls. The fortifications were built by the Knights of
St John, but they enclosed a byzantine chapel and, climbing one final set of steps, the
temple of Athena. |
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As we explored the partially restored remains of the Temple of the Lindian Athena, the
clouds moved away and a rainbow brightened up the day. |
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 Looking over the battlements
down into the village, we saw off to the north the natural harbor where it is said St.
Paul landed on his visit to Rhodes (Acts 21:1). |
 And so, as the sun sinks
slowly behind the signature bronze stag in the harbor,, we bid a fond farewell to the
beautiful island of Rhodes, her ancient walled cities, her white villages, gleaming in the
sun, her historic ruins, her white beaches, her friendly inhabitants, and her lots and
lots of stairs!
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