Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Rhodes, Greece, 2007

Rhodes, Greece

Rhodes (Rodos in Greek) was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today Rhodes is a major international tourist destination.

Historical sites on the island of Rhodes include the Acropolis of Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes, the Temple of Apollo, ancient Ialysos, ancient Kamiros, the Governor's Palace, Rhodes Old Town (walled medieval city), the Palace of the Grand Masters, Kahal Shalom Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, the Archeological Museum, the ruins of the castle of Monolithos, the castle of Kritinia and St. Catherine Hospice.

Rhodes lies between Crete and the near East in the Aegean ocean. Rhodes is the biggest of the Dodecanese islands. Named the sun island or island of light there are hardly any days when the sun doesn't shine.
Spot Hotel is an Old Town Rhodes Hotel located right in the heart of the Old Town and just minutes away from central port of Rhodes. Nestled within the castle walls, The Spot Hotel is a charming 11 room traditional Bed and Breakfast styled guest house hotel with a family atmosphere and modern amenities.
http://www.spothotelrhodes.com/
You feel like you are amongst family at the Spot Hotel. Lee and his wife are very gracious and always willing to help or provide recommendations on where to eat or places to visit. I still miss our morning breakfasts at the Spot. Lee's wife would give us goat milk yogurt every morning; it tasted heavenly with some honey on it.
The Memorial to the Jewish Martyrs of Rhodes and Cos is located at the Square of the Martyred Jews. The inscription reads "Never Forget" "In eternal memory of the 1604 Jewish martyrs of Rhodes and Cos who were murdered in the Nazi death camps".
After checking in at the Spot and resting for a few minutes, we asked Lee where we should go for lunch. He recommended Laganis Restaurant, about 5-10 mins away from the hotel. The food was delicious; since I was starving, we ordered almost every appetizer on the menu. We had octopus, dolmades, meatballs, etc.
The Old City of Rhodes with a population of 6,000 inhabitants is surrounded by medieval walls with seven gates. When you cross one of the seven gates into the Old Town of Rhodes, you enter the oldest inhabited medieval town in Europe.
There are roughly 200 streets or lanes that simply have no name. Getting lost here is an opportunity to explore. Walking down the streets while admiring the imposing buildings, the gardens and people's courtyards, you feel like time has stopped.
Did I say that it is very easy to get lost?
At different points of the Old Town, you will see Knights overlooking and guarding the city walls.

It is a great feeling to be walking around these residential alleys where children play and grandparents sit watching in their doorways.
The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes was built in the 14th century by the Knights of Rhodes (now officially known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta), who occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1522. After the island was captured by the Ottoman Empire, the palace was used as a fortress.
The moat around the old town is impressive. It's pretty wide (about 25m). It is a great place to go for a walk. At various points, there are accesses into the old town. There are defensive bastions at various locations, and near the far end is an old outdoor theatre.
The Square Palace is built around a large courtyard and follows the outline of the modified 7th Century citadel. In the early 14th Century the Knights began their repair of the earlier fortress to make it the centre of their administration and fit for the residency of their Grand Master.After its dereliction during the Turkish occupation, the palace was largely destroyed by an ammunition explosion in 1856. When the Italians occupied Rhodes in 1911, they rebuilt it in a grandiose pseudo-medieval style as a holiday residence for the King of Italy, and later for Benito Mussolini.
When Greece reclaimed the island from Italy in 1948, the palace became a museum.
The most important exhibits in the Museum are:
the mosaic floors from the Hellenistic, Late Roman and Early Christian periods from the Dodecanese. And the sculptures of the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
The Knights' Street (Odhos Ippoton) is 200 m long and 6 m wide. It was the main official street connecting the religious and political centre of the fortress, the Catholic Cathedral (Panaghia Kastrou) and the Palace of the Grand Master. Along its length are the most important public and private buildings erected by the Knights.
I am not sure since when this ice cream parlor has been around, but their interesting shaped ice cream is delicious.
It was hard to stop taking pictures.
Sara is trying to stay out of the sun for a few minutes.
Did I say that it was hard to stop taking pictures?
The Mosque of Suleiman is situated at the top end of Socratous and instantly recognisable with its tall, leaning minaret and candy-striped dome. Rhodes’ Old Town has many beautiful mosques from the time when the Turkish played a role in the history of the island.
Dating from 1523, it was constructed to commemorate Suleiman’s conquest of the island and was rebuilt in 1828 on its original foundations.
Dimitri's Fish Restaurant - was another recommendation by Lee from our hotel. Dimitri (shown here) is very proud of his fishing and cooking abilities. He started laughing when I ordered a double burger with fries. When I told him that Lee had sent us there to order a double burger, Dimitri said: "Lee knows that Dimitri only does fish, no burgers, but Lee always orders burgers when comes here".
The octopus was amazingly tender and delicious. Dimitri showed us how he dries the octopus on the roof of his restaurant after cleaning it. After a couple of days, the octopus is ready to be grilled.
We decided to rent a car for a day, so we could explore the island since we knew that at least we wanted to go to Lindos.
Lindos - is located 50 km southeast of Rhodes town, and it has a population of 1,000 people. Lindos has been designated a historic settlement, and the Archaeological Society controls development in the village.
The traditional white-stucco homes is the classically Greek expression in the Dodecanese.
The Acropolis is one of three original Dorian acropolises in Rhodes. Within the much-later medieval walls stand the impressive remains of the Sanctuary of Athena Lindos, with its large Doric portico from the 4th century B.C. St. John's Knights refortified the Acropolis with monumental turreted walls and built a small church to St. John inside.
After making our way through the labyrinthine lanes of medieval Lindos, we arrived at one of the paths that would take us to the acropolis.
Before you start your final ascent to the Acropolis, you can see the famous relief carving of a trireme, or three-banked ship, dating from the 2nd century B.C.
Most of what you see of the Acropolis dates from the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, with some later additions by the romans around 3rd century AD and the later additions of fortifications by the knights from around the 13th century AD. The columns are the remains of the of the Sanctuary of Athena Lindos.
At the Acropolis, you get wonderful views of the town of Lindos, Saint Paul's Bay and the crystal clear beaches below.
After exploring the Acropolis and Lindos, we got into the car and continue to drive until I got us a little lost. As we kept driving, we got to see Rodos' unspoiled mountain villages.
There were a few abandoned churches all over the island.
We really enjoyed this drive since there was no traffic jams, and we had amazing views of the ocean on one side and beautiful mountains on the other.
The Venetian castle of Monolithos sits astride Monopetra, a blunted needle of grey rock rising precipitously to 774ft (236m). The Castle of Monolithos is an impregnable fortress built by the Grand Master d'Aubusson. The thick walls thread around the top and inside is the white church of Ag Panteleimon.
I should call this blog "The Churches Of Rodos."
After our day excursion of the island, we returned to Rodos Old Town to have dinner at my favorite restaurant, Mandala Resturant. Mandala has the best pasta I have ever had, and the prices were very low. I could not believe that after ordering two different apetizers, our entrees, desserts and a bottle of wine the total was about 35 Euros. Plus the ambiance at Mandala's was great. There were flowers and plants all over the place, and the service was outstanding.
One of the Old Town's most visited landmarks is that of the old clock tower, situated just off Panetiou at the top of Socratous.
The tower was built after the devastating earthquake of 1851 and stands on the site of the original north-west tower of the internal fortifications of the coliseum.
Not only is it a wonderful relic in its own right, but the effort on a hot day to climb its steps is rewarded with the finest panoramic last look at this wonderful city.
It came the time to leave Rhodes and head over to Santorini, but as soon as I saw the small plane, I was ready to return to the hotel and stay in Rhodes. There were some storms all over the place, so to me a bigger plane could have been more appropriate.

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