Day 9 - Welcome to Rhodes!

Rhodes, Greece * Friday, June 23, 2006

From the Navigator:
After departing Kusadasi, the Golden Princess set a westerly course into Kusadasi Gulf until she was abeam on the westerly tip of "Nisos Ikaria". Golden Princess turned then into the Ikarian Sea setting a south easterly course. During the overnight passage we transit 3.5 miles east of Levitha Island, once off the west end of Kandhelioussa Island, we set out course towards the west end of the Rhodes Channel. In the early hours of the morning, Golden princess sailed off the north coast of Rhodes. About 7:00am we embarked the pilot and we proceeded alongside at Angeloi pier. In the afternoon, once we depart, the vessel will exit the breakwaters and retrace our course into the Rhodes Channel once again. During the evening we will set various courses through the Eastern and Central Aegean Islands towards Santorini.

An Overview of Rhodes

Blessed with delightful climate and fertile soil, which produces a variety of the finest fruits, vegetables and red wine, Rhodes is the most important island in the group known as the Dodecanese or South Sporades. It is also the most easterly island of the Aegena Sea.

In Greek mythology, Rhodes was created by the sun god and a sea nymph: symbolic testimony indeed to the favor of both sun and sea in this beautiful place. According to Homer, the first colonists were Dorian Greeks, who founded three settlements: Lindos, Karmiros and Ialyssos. All three towns grew and prospered, extending their trade contacts as far as Italy and Spain.

Once they became involved in the Persian and Peloponesian wars, the settlers saw the need for a fortress. They founded the city of Rhodes at the northern tip of the island, and worked together to build a powerful citadel with a protected harbor.

The strength of the fortifications and the Rodian navy made the island even more important as a commercial and military power. It was put under siege many times, but usually resisted successfully.

In its days of greatest power, Rhodes became famous for impressive sculpture, like the huge bronze Colossus, which stood at the entrance to the harbor. Created to honor the sun god Helios, it was at least 110 feet high and considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Contrary to popular belief, it did not straddle the harbor mouth, which is 1,300 feet across. It may have stood, however, on a protective barrier at the entrance, or off to one side of it.

Unfortunately, the Colossus only stood for 56 years before an earthquake toppled it in 224 B.C. But the enormous fragments remained half-submerged-and still awe-inspiring-for another nine centuries. When a scrap dealer finally carried the pieces away, he needed 900 camels!

The people of Rhodes cooperated with Alexander the Great, and later with the Roman empire, but the period of their greatest commercial success was already past. Rhodes passed successively from Byzantine control to the Saracens to Italian merchants, never regaining its former glory.

But the most glorious episode in Rodian history began in 1309, when the Knights of St. John took control. The Knights were founded during the Crusades as a nursing brotherhood, helping to care for the sick and infirm among the pilgrims to the Holy Land. Their full and proper name was the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

Yet continued fighting in the countryside convinced them that they had to protect travelers as well as heal them. So the Knights evolved into a genuine military order, like the Templars, although they never lost their interest in medicine and healing.

With the fall of Acre in 1291, the Knights and their fellow crusaders were finally expelled from the Holy Land. Although the Knights were temporary "orphans," they were highly motivated fighting men from the leading families of Europe. The Pope suggested that they use Rhodes as a base from which to harass Turkish communications, and pave the way for the next campaign.

No further Crusade took place, but the Knights rebuilt the town and the fortifications of Rhodes with furious zeal. Most of the imposing military architecture you see today dates from the 14th century. The Knights' rule on the island was mild and just, and both the native Greeks and the Italian merchants prospered with an increase of commerce. The Knights built galleys, learned naval tactics, and quickly became a serious danger to Moslem shipping in the Aegean for the next two centuries.

After Constantinople was captures in 1453, the Turks felt strong enough to seize Rhodes. Sultan Mehmet II attempted an assault in 1480, but was repulsed with severe losses. A later siege by Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent focused the full and awesome power of the Ottoman Empire on this single effort. Suleyman landed in June of 1522, with 100,000 well-trained troops, an excellent engineer corps and powerful siege artillery.

Constant reinforcements were needed to replace casualties, bringing the total number of Turkish soldiers to 200,000; as many as 90,000 of them would die. To oppose them, there were only 700 Knights, with 6,000 local helpers, and no hope of reinforcement. But they knew every inch of their island, and they defended what was by then the most fortified place on earth.

The siege was conducted with great skill and energy on both sides. Repeated Turkish assaults were repulsed with shocking slaughter. By Christmas, only 180 Knights and 1,500 auxiliaries were still left alive, and most of these were wounded.

Suleyman proposed a truce, since he dreaded the thought of more street fighting. The Knights were allowed to evacuate the island peacefully, with the respect of their besiegers. The fighting was finally over, and Rhodes became Turkish property.

The Knights of St. John fell back to Malta, where they rebuilt their forces. They continued to sail expeditions against the Turkish navy. When Suleyman attempted to capture Malta 40 years later, he suffered a major defeat, and the "Knights of Malta" continued to hold their new island until Napoleon's time.

Turkish rule on Rhodes was comparatively lenient, allowing much freedom to the local Greeks and Italians. There was a general decline in commercial development, and not much building took place over the next four centuries.

The Italian navy seized Rhodes and the Dodecanese in 1912, following the Italo-Turkish War. Mussonlini's architects restored many of the medieval buildings and fortresses in the 1930s. There was some air and naval action near Rhodes during World War II, but little damage was done. The islands were turned over to Greece in 1948.

As it appears today, Rhodes Town retains few relics of its glorious ancient past. Most of the Old Town is medieval, in the image of the Knights of St. John. Only on Monte Smith, west of town, do you find remnants of the ancient Acropolis. The ruins of a stadium and an Odeon--a small theater--date from the 2nd century B.C. you will also find three columns from the old Temple of Apollo.

The mountain is named for British Admiral Sidney Smith, who lived here during the Napoleonic Wars. The entrance to the old harbor of Mandraki is marked today by a buck and a doe in bronze, with no Colossus in sight.

But don't neglect the real treat for a visitor to Rhodes: a walk through the Old Town will transport you back five centuries. Just inside the Amboise Gate is the Palace of the Grand Masters, rich with memory of the Knights. Nearby is St. John's Lodge, and the area once occupied by St. John's Chapel, their principal place of worship.

From there, the arrow-straight Street of the Knights leads to St. Mary's church, at the waterfront. Along that thoroughfare are the arsenal and the impressive hospital, in line with the initial mission of the order.

Also near the Street of the Knights you will find a chain of inns, or residences, where the Knights lived in communities based on language. The inns are some of the richest and most impressive buildings in the Old Town. There were eight of these languages: France, Auvergne, Provence, Aragon, Castille, Italy, England, and Germany.

Once you have admired these inns, you will want to walk around the old ramparts. Each wall section-called a boulevard-was garrisoned by a different language. The names of each one line up neatly on the street signs if you know what to look for. Rhodes and Malta are the only places in the world where cities are built in this manner.

If you can tear yourself away from the Old City, there are more surprises in the ancient towns of Rhodes. Beautiful Lindos may already seem familiar if you saw the movie, "The Guns of Navarone." And as early as the 7th century B.C., colonists from here founded Naples, in southern Italy, and Gela in Sicily.

Although the impressive fortress is the work of the Knights, the ancient Acropolis centers on the temple of Athena Lindia, built in the Doric style. The awesome site of Lindos explains why life on Rhodes began here.

Mount Philerimos hosts Ialyssos, the third of the ancient trio of towns. Everyone was here: Phonecians, Dorians, Byzantines, Genoese, Knights of St. John. During the Great Siege, even Suleyman place his headquarters here.

Martini anyone? How about a Tango Tini? (Stolichnaya Vodka, Blue Curacao, Melon Liqueur with pineapple juice)