Trips throughout Greece

Athens - Pireaus - Cape Sounion - Poros - Santorini - Zakynthos - Rhodes - Mikonos - Delos - Corinth - Theater of Epidauro - Nafplio - Mycenae - Delphi - Arahova - Ioannina - Vikos Gorges - Meteora - Messenia and Peloponnesus

Rhodes is the biggest of Dodecanese islands, that are located in the Aegean sea, at the east of the Cyclades, very close to Turkey. They are constituted by around 200 islands and islets, and only 27 are inhabited.
They had a key role during the olden ages and in Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages they were the main base of the Saint John's Knights Order, that faced the Turkish threat until the islands were invaded during the 16th century. The Italians took possession of the Dodecanese from 1912 to 1948, and as a result their inhabitants were the lasts to be incorporated to the Greek State.

I am going to tell our trip to Rhodes, because you shouldn't miss it. We bought two tickets for the ferry from Piraeus to Mikonos (that's right, Mikonos ). We had booked a room in the village in advance. We left on Friday evening and we expected to arrive at night. We had travelled so many places in Greece that we felt confident. We relaxed and we felt asleep for a while after having dinner (some food that we brought with us). I wake up and after a moment I went to have a look through the windows. I contemplated that our ship was moving away from what it seemed to me a port, and as it was dark I couldn't distinguish anything clearly. I started to link some thoughts: we were sleeping, the loud noise coming from the motors avoiding us to hear the speakers, the feeling of having notice many people movements in dreams...the island we were leaving was Mikonos! Very nervous, I started to go around the ferry, searching for leaflets or any information. I approached a group of persons looking at a table. There was a panel showing a map with the exact situation of the ferry in real time, and, as I was afraid, the island was Mikonos . It was a dramatic moment because I didn't have any idea of where we were going to end. After moving through the facilities we found a leaflet describing the itinerary. Next stops: Kos and Rhodes . With a map on your hand you realize how far both islands are, almost in Turkey . The ship disembarked at 4-5 h. in the morning and around 7 o'clock in Rhodes . We started to consider that despite our mistake we were lucky because of two reasons. We desired to visit Rhodes later and the ferry arrived at a good time to search for accommodation and visit the island, so we could sleep for several hours in the ferry. We didn't want to inform the crew about this happening because this way we would have had to pay the difference in the ticket price. Nobody asked for the tickets when disembarking at Rhodes.

The arrival to the harbour is spectacular . The dawn light hits the walled city and one can breathe the magic atmosphere, a mixture of cultures with thousands of years on its back.

Rhodes is a mountainous island in the middle region and the vegetation is similar to the rest of Greece (vineyards, citrics and pines), but mixed with some semitropical brushes.

During the 7th century B.C. the three cities of the island traded with Egypt and Orient. In 408 B.C. these cities founded the city of Rhodes , that managed to overcome the other three in prosperity. During the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. it was the main maritime power in the eastern Mediterranean Sea due to its fleet and its strong currency. It also experienced a flourish in arts, which was reflected in some immortal works such as the Aphrodite of Rhodes, the Laocoon of the Vatican City or the Colossus (265 B.C), built by Cares de Lindos.
In 1306 the Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem's Knights arrived in the island. They constructed numerous buildings: walls, a city, the harbour, some citadels, strongholds, monasteries and churches, all in a Provenzal Gothic style imported from Europe. In 1522 all this belonged to the Turkish, which left their imprint in the form of mosques, fountains and diverse oriental inspired objects. In 1911 the Italians possessed the island and they impelled a tourist development with hotels and roads. From 1945 to 1948 it belonged to Germany and in 1948 it became Greek at last.

First of all we went to the new market zone, where we could find several travel agencies and places to have breakfast. It is a sympathetic spot near the harbour and the old city. We had breakfast with calm while observing how the town woke up and the Greeks were arriving into the market and the shops slowly. We got the last two tickets of this weekend to return to Athens. The luck was favourable for us again, as we had to work on Monday. We phoned the hotel in Mikonos to explain our problem and they put it easy for use, and even they told us that there was no problem if we wanted the money back. So, with everything arranged, we thought about going to Lindos by bus this morning and to see Rhodes in the afternoon.
The best-prepared roads are those which surrounds the island, especially in the north. The roads crossing the mountains from one side to another are the worst. There are some tourist beaches, but they are not very overcrowded.

The bus drove us parallel to the coast, showing different villages near the sea. Many of these villages are tourist and modern. Lindos is 55 km. far from the capital (1 h.), and it climbs up the slopes of a hill crowned by its fortress. There are neither cars allowed nor modern hotels, but instead there are hordes of tourists attracted by the beauty of this spot. Some data: the inhabitants of Lindos founded Naples , here one of the 7 Wises of Greece lived, and here Saint Pablo made a break at the end of his 3rd travel.

This place has been colonised by many civilizations: Greeks, Byzantines, Geneses and Saint John Knights.
The itinerary towards the fortress runs through disordered narrow streets with white houses built during 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It is crammed with souvenirs shops, specially the main street, that describes a continue zigzag. You can move up and down on a donkey if you like to. Once at the top we were surprised by everything.

The knights' stronghold , from the 15th century and at 100 m. high, is almost inaccessible, as it is erected over vertical rocks. Inside it recalls your attention the presence of an ancient Acropolis so there coexist rests from diverse civilizations, giving a unique touch. During the ancient Greece there was a temple dedicated to Athena, very important and respected. The sightseeing is impressive. On one side there is a brilliant creek of crystalline water located near the village, called creek of the Great Port.

On the other side you can observe the Creek of Saint Pablo (dedicated to Saint Paul , who is believed to disembark here), and huge cliffs rise along the coastline, giving the aspect of a moon landscape. In this cliffs some scenes of the movie "the Navarone Cannons". While descending we walked along a path where Greek women showed hand made fabrics, which is a typical artisan product from here.
The colour of the water in the creek where the beach of Lindos is situated invites was irresistible and we had a refreshing bath.

We came back to Rhodes in a bus. We ate some Greek fast food in the new market. The meal was quick, delicious, cheap and quite sane. Greek food allows saving your time that you would loose in restaurants instead. It is a good option to avoid feeding with sandwiches all the time.

The city of Rhodes is located on the northern side of the island, oriented towards Turkey. Therefore it is the gate to Orient and you can indeed distinguish the Turkish coast in clear days. We can divide Rhodes in two: the walled city and the exterior. The inside part allows for a travel back in history to the Middle Ages. The city outside the walls is noisy, plenty of gardens, beaches, hotels, shops and night-clubs. I only can describe the medieval town as I stayed for short in the island and we preferred to visit the historical city, instead of the modern one, because the first is unique.

The Military Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem was founded in the 11th century to protect the pilgrims in the holy places. The knights possessed a church and a hospital near Jerusalem as well as an imposing fortress in Saint John of Acre. After the Turkish conquered Saint John of Acre in 1291 the knights of St. John moved away from the Holy Land to Cyprus and later to Rhodes, that became their main base against the increasing Turkish power.
The knights came from 7 nationalities and languages: France, Provence, Auvergne, Aragon, Castilla, Italy and England. Each of them had its own inn. The Order was headed by the Grand Master and most knight where French. The knights kept a poverty and chastity vow, and squires accompanied them. When the Templar Knights disappeared in 1312 the knights of Saint John inherited their goods. They participated in the alliances and crusaders against the Turkish. They were besieged buy the Turkish both in 1444 and 1480 but they managed to resist. However in 1522 the 650 knights together with 6.000 citizens withdrew in front of 100.000 soldiers under the command of Suleiman the Magnificent after 6 months of siege, as one soldier that entered the Turkish side betrayed them. The Pope had encouraged the Christian princes to help Rhodes but he didn't obtain any reaction. The Turkish transformed the churches into mosques. In 1523 the 180-surviving knights left to Malta..

The walled city remanins very well conserved. We started walking along the walls and the deep moats . There are many towers with platforms to display the cannons. It is a formidable system of successive fortifications that explains how the knights managed to repel the sieges. The wall aspect is quite exotic as the moats are embellished with palm trees and flowers. This mixture of orient and occident makes of Rhodes a special an interesting spot.

We went into the citadel through a bridge over the moats leading to the magnificent d´Amboise's gate (1512) , that was constructed by Aimeri d´Amboise, Grand Master of the Order. A passage and another gate drove us to the outside square of the palace. The access to the palace is located under a monumental vault that was used as meeting point of knights or as the waiting place before an appointment in the palace.

The Palace of the Grand Masters was built during the 14th century and it resembles a castle more than a palace, as it was erected to reinforce this part of the citadel. The Turkish turned it into a jail and it was destroyed in 1856 with an explosion of a powder magazine. Finally we have to thank the Italians the accurate reconstruction, as they wanted it as a residence palace for Mussolini. You visit broad halls adorned with Greek and Roman mosaics coming from the Dodecanese islands. The inner yard is quite elegant.

When you leave the vault entrance you turn left to find the street of the Knights , the most famous in Rhodes. It is a stone and pedestrian medieval street flanked with Gothic inns from 15th and 16th centuries where the knights lived grouped according to their languages. The most outstanding is the French inn. The street ends in the Hospital Square . There we contemplate the church of Saint Mary, a church with Greek cross floor transformed into Latin cross floor and fortified by the Knights.

The most important building in this square is the Knights' Hospital . You enter under a passage to a inner yard with arcades around. We walked through the rooms: the first floor was destined mainly to pantries. The second floor contained the patients' room, with a capacity for 100 people. The beds were isolated in cellars to avoid spreading illnesses. Nearby this big hall there is a chapel and a kitchen. The hospital contains the archaeological museum as well. It is worth a visit only to admire the Aphrodite of Rhodes , master work from the 1st century B.C.

We also found the England inn in front of the square. From the Hospital Square we passed in front of the Auvergne inn and the weapon warehouse to reach the fortifications driving us out towards the harbour dock.
The views from the walls over the sea are pretty nice. The sight covers the Mandraki bay , where according to the tradition the Colossus remained. It was a huge 30 m. height statue included into the seven wonders of the ancient world. The colossus was the entrance to the harbour, and it was so tall that the ships passed under and between his legs. However some experts think that this marvel was situated inside the town.

Unfortunately an earthquake destroyed it in 226 B.C. The pieces were sold. When you are looking at the bay it is inevitable trying to imagine where it was located. It represented the god Helios.
The harbour of Rhodes was well known because of its security and a chain linking the tower of Naillac with the tower of the Mills (or Saint Nicholas' tower) protected the entrance. The last one was rather a stronghold to control the access to the harbour.

The city seems magnificent from the harbour zone , with the minarets of the Turkish district at the background. We paid attention to a market selling different sea articles, such as the hundreds of marine sponges. From the harbour we again came into the old city under the imposing Saint Catalina's gate (also called gate of the Navy), decorated with a lily flower over the Order coat of arms. The gate is guarded with two high towers.

Once in the inner town we reached Ipokratous square , that has a Turkish fountain in the middle. Nearby it there is the Merchants gallery, a building from 16th century used as gathering point or as seat for the tribunal concerning commercial judgements. We could say that we had entered the village because until now we had moved along defences, knights buildings, walls and fortifications, but now we walked into the districts where the normal citizens lived.

The square is really lively and it is located at the end of the main commercial street in the old city: Sokratous street. We are in the Turkish district . We walked throughout the street, looking at the restaurants and shops on both sides, to finally arrive into the mosques zone: the ancient mosque of Aga, the Mustafa mosque (18th century), the Turkish baths (18th century) or the Suleiman mosque, turned into a church and that possesses an elegant Italian Renaissance arcade.

The mosques coexist with some churches. They also built the clock tower or bell tower that can be visited at the top in order to enjoy the sightseeing. A passage near this tower offers a spectacular and beautiful panorama of the Turkish district, the towers and the domes.
Generally we found quite a lot of tourists in the main streets (the Knight street and Sokratous street) but you can wander in other narrow streets to feel that you are alone in another époque.

There is also the possibility of walking into the Jewish district . You feel admiration when thinking about the enriching mixture of cultures that lived in peace here some centuries ago. Finally we returned to the Sokratus street and Ipokratous square to have dinner while the pretty sunset surprised us in the citadel. This is a very tourist zone and the waiters invite you to sit in their terraces. The atmosphere is really cheerful. However they are streets so tourist that we decided to eat in an Italian restaurant, as we had travelled enough across Greece to know which Greek food was nice and which one is prepared for tourists and has much less quality.

We missed the performance of light and sounds that is showed near the walls, and that relates the history of Rhodes, but we had to take a plane.