Our last stop - Rhodes

Our last stop-and an incredible one. Rhodes has 80,000 people-a far cry from the islands that only had a thousand. It's famous for the Colossus of Rhodes-the great statue of the Sun God Helios, which stood 107 feet tall over the harbor. It was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Rhodes has many souvenirs and shirt depicting the Colossus. Since it was built around 200 B.C. and stood only 56 years after being destroyed by an earthquake, it has made a lasting impression on the world. Even our own Statue of Liberty is designed after the Colossus and mentioned in a poem inscribed on a plaque inside the statue in New York Harbor.

Rhodes houses the oldest inhabited medieval town in Europe. As we sailed into the harbor, the walls of the huge castle greeted us. The Knights of St. John built the walled city in the 1300s. It was home of the Knights Hospitaller (aka - Knights of Rhodes). They also built a palace for the Grand Master of the Order of the Knights of St. John.

The palace is absolutely amazing. It was restored in the early 1900s by Italy. We toured the palace and the courtyard inside. The mosaics were so intricate. The Knights had used the mosaics found on the Greek Islands created mostly in the 2nd and 3rd century B.C. They incorporated them into the floors of the palace. The workmanship is so beautiful.
We wall of the town is over 2 1/2 miles. When we walked inside the Old Town of Rhodes, it was one huge maze of markets that go on and on and on. Over 6,000 people live in Old Town Rhodes. We walked down the Street of Knights, one of the most important streets of the Old Town. We stayed in one of the many inns inside the wall of Old Town that date back to the Middle Ages.
We spent a lot of time wandering the streets in Old Town. There were tons of shops with all different types of touristy items and clothing. You would think we would have eaten a bunch of Baklava in Greece, but gelato was everywhere - and we enjoyed the variety of Greek flavors...especially on our waffles with chocolate syrup. Some of the vendors dressed up their goods to attract the thousands of customers wandering the streets. We really liked unique part of Greece.

Sat. Oct 18, we chartered a bus and went to Lindos. On the way we were able to see the new city of Rhodes and how the people built right over the old ruins with new apartment buildings --you could still the old ruins that were 2,200 years old below. We also saw the Temple of Apollo in Rhodes. Jared decided it would make a nice hat on my photo.


Our next stop was Anthony Quinn Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches on Rhodes. It has sparkling blue water, a pebbled beach and quiet cove. It is named after the actor, Anthony Quinn, after filming The Guns of Navarone on Rhodes. Quinn also is famous for starring in Zorba the Greek. Quinn was given the beach and surrounding area with the promise he would develop it. That never happened, so the government reclaimed it and it remains small and beautiful.

In Lindos, we saw the Acropolis. It is built on the top of a large hill--like all the Acropoli. We had to walk up several stairs to get to the top. Donkey rides are very popular. Several people paid 5 euros to ride to the top. We chose to walk. The stairs were nothing after our thousands of stairs in Symi just a few days before.

The Acropolis overlooks two beautiful bays. One of which is where the apostle, Paul, landed to teach the people of Rhodes on his travels in Greece in 51 A.D. It's pretty amazing to think that as he sailed in, there was the acropolis high on the mountainside and he was going to teach the people about Christ and not worshipping other gods--when the acropolis was built to do just that. By then, the Romans were in control of the Acropolis. It wasn't until the early 1900s when major "restoration" work began by the Italians. They set out to rebuild the Acropolis, unfortunately their methods actually hurt the ruins more than helped them. It is now in a state of restoration by the Greek nation.
Here we all are at the Acropolis in front of the Doric Temple of Athena Lindia. At the base of the Acropolis is a relief of a Dorian ship cut into the rock at the foot of the steps leading up to the Acropolis. The ship bears traces of paint and was carved about 180-170 B.C. There's an inscription that describes the relief and the name of the sculptor-Pythokritos.

On our drive back from Lindos, we stopped in Filerimos. It is a beautiful forested hill about 875 feet above sea level. We stopped and walked the Via Dolorosa (or Road of Golgotha). A trail depicting Christ as he went to be crucified. At the top of the hill is a 50 ft. cross and a beautiful overlook of the towns below.

After a fabulous and exhausting 3 weeks, we headed back to our hotel and packed our bags to head back to Athens in the morning...little did we know we still had adventure waiting for us on our trips back home.