Rhodes, the sunny island

Saturday, 18 June 2011 - 02:41 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, UNESCO World Heritage
Reading Time:  3 minutes

Maltan Knights Castle in Rhodes City © Polimerek

Maltan Knights Castle in Rhodes City © Polimerek

Rhodes is a Greek island approximately 18 kilometres (11 mi) southwest of Turkey in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes peripheral unit, which is part of the South Aegean Periphery. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes. The city of Rhodes had 54,000 inhabitants. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. The major industry is tourism.

In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son, Demetrius, to besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created huge siege engines, including a 180 ft (55 m) battering ram and a siege tower named Helepolis that weighed 360,000 pounds (163,293 kg). 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 since called the Colossus of Rhodes.

The old lighthouse of St Nikolaos at the Mandraki Marina © Mouras View of the west coast and the town of Ialysos, seen from the Mount Filerimos © Mouras The Acropolis of Lindos © Jolle Olive grove © Karelj Old Town Gardens © Petra Pospisilova Lindos Villages © Böhringer Friedrich Kallithea thermes (spa) © Petra Pospisilova Filerimos © Petra Pospisilova Church in Sianna on the west coast © Petra Pospisilova Church in Lindos © Petra Pospisilova Aghios Archangelos Church © Stefan Krause Rhodes night view © Plamen Matanski Rhodes Harbor Gates and Lighthouse © Wojsyl The Castle of Monolithos © Karelj Maltan Knights Castle in Rhodes City © Polimerek
<
>
View of the west coast and the town of Ialysos, seen from the Mount Filerimos © Mouras
In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a treaty with Rome. It became an educational center for Roman noble families, and was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as Hermagoras and the unknown author of 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.

Read more on RodosIsland.gr, RhodesGuide.com, VisitGreece.gr – Rhodes, Wikitravel Rhodes and Wikipedia Rhodes. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organisations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Technion in Haifa

Technion in Haifa

[caption id="attachment_236671" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Aerospace Faculty © first_div[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Establ...

Ariccia in the Alban Hills

Ariccia in the Alban Hills

[caption id="attachment_160773" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ariccia Panorama © Deblu68[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Ariccia is a town and comune in the Province of Rome, central Italy. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio region a...

Saint-Tropez

Saint-Tropez

[caption id="attachment_159873" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Saint_Tropez church © MartinPutz[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'...

Abbeville, centre of maritime Picardy

Abbeville, centre of maritime Picardy

[caption id="attachment_160760" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Place du Pilori © Tangopaso[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France. Abbeville was the capital of the fo...

Botanical Garden of Brussels

Botanical Garden of Brussels

[caption id="attachment_233673" align="aligncenter" width="590"] The main orangery buiding © Edison McCullen/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Botanical Garden of Brussels (French: Jardin botanique de Bruxelles, Dutch: Kruid...

One Belt and One Road Initiative, the new Silk Road

One Belt and One Road Initiative, the new Silk Road

[caption id="attachment_201284" align="aligncenter" width="590"] President of China Xi Jinping © The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a development stra...

The Marais in Paris

The Marais in Paris

[caption id="attachment_27351" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Place des Vosges © AlNo/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Le Marais ("The Marsh") is a historic district in Paris. Long the aristocratic district of Paris, it hosts...

The Cinque Ports in Kent and Sussex

The Cinque Ports in Kent and Sussex

[caption id="attachment_153740" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Cinque Ports map © Clem Rutter[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Confederation of Cinque Ports (pronounced "sink" ports, not as the French "cinq") is a historic series of c...

Portmeirion in Wales

Portmeirion in Wales

[caption id="attachment_249122" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Piazza © flickr.com - Mike McBey/cc-by-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Portmeirion is a folly tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River...

Theme Week Bhutan - Trongsa

Theme Week Bhutan - Trongsa

[caption id="attachment_221403" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Trongsa © flickr.com - Thomas Wanhoff/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Trongsa, previously Tongsa, is a Thromde or town, and the capital of Trongsa District in ce...

The schooner Western Union

The schooner Western Union

[caption id="attachment_151756" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © schoonerwesternunion.org[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]A restored schooner that served the Western Union Telegraph Company and now carries visitors on leisure trips from ...

Brewer's Star

Brewer's Star

[caption id="attachment_227045" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Stammhauses der Riegeler Brauerei © Andreas Schwarzkopf/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The brewer's star (also: beer star, beer pointer, brew star, in the Upper...

Return to TopReturn to Top