HISTORY of Rhodes Island

Rhodes was one of the first islands to go over to Christianity. This was mainly a result of Saint Paul visiting the island in 58 A.D., who arrived to preach Christianity in Lindos. At this point, Rhodes had been the designated capital of the Byzantine Province ("thema") of the Islands, without however regaining the flourishing, by which it used to be characterized in earlier years. The island underwent lots of pirate raids, as did the rest of the islands of the Aegean Sea at that time, among other enemies like the Saracens and the Turks. After the destructive ea...|

The City of Rhodes was established in 408 BC after the union of the three cities if Ialissos, Lindos and Kameiros and its official name was "Damos of the Rhodians". The establishment of the city was a result of the general political instability during the Peloponnesian War that the Rhodians were trying to overcome by establishing a stable and powerful city, taking at the same time a neutral stance in the conflict of the Athenians with the Spartans, despite being a member of the Athenian Alliance since 478 BC.

The destructive Peloponnesian War, however, had significantly enfeebled all cities that were directly or indirectly involved and as a result, in 357 B.C., the island underwent an attack and was conquered by king of Alikarnassos, Mausolos. Later on it fell to the Persians, but not for long, as after the successful march of Alexander the Great in Persia, Rhodes became in 332 B.C. a part of his empire. After the death of the great general, his successors, Ptolemy, Seleukus and Antigonus made an attempt to distribute its kingdom amongst themselves. Rhodes then devel...|

There is more and clearer information for the island since the times of the Minoan civilization, when lots of Minoans were installed in Rhodes from neighbouring Crete and remained there for centuries. Thereafter, the island was inhabited by the Achaeans who originated from various cities of continental Greece such as Mycenae, Attica and Argos, as it has been proved by Mycenaean settlements that were discovered in the area. In the 11th century B.C. the Dorians were installed in Rhodes and established the threes most powerful cities of the island, Lindos, Ialissos...|

After the establishment here of the Knights of St John in 1309, the city of Rhodes became the centre of the Order. Its port underwent considerable development. Pilgrims to the Holy Land used it as a staging-post in their way to Jerusalem. New building were put up and the fortifications were strengthened and improved, and the city thus took on a medieval character.It was divided by an inner wall into two unequal parts, the Collachium, the smaller part, and the Chora or Burgo. The Collachium centred on the Street of the Knights and contained the Palace of the Gran...|

The island of Rhodes was initially inhabited during the Neolithic age but very few things have been saved from that period. According to the ancient Greek mythology, when Zeus prevailed in the war with the Giants, he decided to distribute the earth among the gods of Olympus. Sun-god Helios, however, was absent when the distribution was taking place and no-one remember to include him in the drawing of the lots. When Helios returned from his duties complained for the injustice that had happened against him. Zeus then proposed that the drawing of the lots should be repeated, but Helios decline...|

In the end of the 3rd century B.C. the Roman Empire was dominant and Rhodes tried to maintain the friendliest relationship possible with the superpower, since its citizens' freedom was in a great extent depending on the intentions of Roman politicians. For a pretty long time it succeeded in this task, as it constituted a significant educational centre for the noble families of Rome. Despite all those however, the Romans were primarily interested in restricting the growth of the island, in the first given chance. Thus, when Rhodes declined to participate in the w...|

The Colossus of Rhodes was, of course, in its time one of the "Seven Wonders of the World". There has been much discussion of its "colossal" size and the issue of where exactly it must have stood, but these questions cannot be answered with certainty, given that not a single fragment of it has survived. The only evidence of its existence is the descriptions of travellers who came to Rhodes to see it.The Rhodians put up the Colossus to honour their protector Helios, the sun-god, after the unsuccessful attempt of Demetrius the Besieger to take their city in 305/4 ...|

When Rhodes was taken by the hordes of Suleyman the Magnificent in 1522, the Greek were driven out of the walled city and were forced to live outside in districts which they created and called marÜsia. The Turks, of course, on taking over the city, had no need to put up new buildings: they made use of the existing ones, adding their own features and adapting them to their needs. The churches, with the addition of a minaret, were turned into mosques, while the houses of the Christians completely met the needs of their new occupants after wooden trellises coverin...|