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Rhodes
( Rodos ) island
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Acropolis
of Rhodes
The Rhodes Acropolis dominated the western and highest part of the city.
It was not fortified like most ancient acropoleis. It consisted of a monumental
zone with Sanctuaries, large temples, public buildings and underground
cult places. The buildings were built on stepped terraces supported by
strong retaining walls. It was "full of fields and groves", in the words
of the 2nd c. AD orator Ailios Aristides. The style of the Hellenistic
architecture on the Acropolis of Rhodes was perfectly conveyed by the combination
of natural beauty and artificial transformations. The buildings on the
Acropolis date to the Hellenistic and Late Hellenistic periods (3rd-2nd
c. BC).
 The
excavations were carried out by the Italian Archaeological School during
the Italian occupation of the island (1912-1945). From 1946 onwards the
Greek Archaeological Service conducted excavations which added to our knowledge
of the history and topography of the place. The whole of the Acropolis
has not yet been excavated. An archaeological zone of 12,500 m² has been
excluded from contemporary building with the intention of continuing excavation
works to uncover the splendid ancient city of Rhodes.
Outside
the boundary of the ancient city, on the southeast side of the town of
Rhodes, stretch the ancient cemeteries. One of the most important
is the group of burial complexes at Korakonero, dating to late Hellenistic
and Roman times. Over this period a great variety can be seen in the funerary
architecture. The tombs, which as a rule are cut into the soft poros rock,
are either cist graves or, in the case of the more luxurious ones, consist
of subterranean chambers with architectural fronts (arched colonnades or
columns supporting architraves with metopes and triglyphs mimicking the
temple facades). Within them the dead were placed in cists cut into the
walls of the chambers. It is not known whether these complexes belonged
to wealthy families or to religious groups. The area was originally used
for a quarry. The grave complexes were discovered and restored by the Italian
Archaeological School before the end of the 2nd World War.The altars and
stelai were found in situ and erected by the Italians, probably correctly,
on the bases on top of the subterranean
burial
chambers.
Telephone
+30 22410-75674,
Archaeological
site of Lindos
The
archaeological site of Lindos extends outside and around the Acropolis
and includes the following monuments:
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Theatre.
This is on the southwest side of the hill, below the Temple of Athena.
The theatre held 1,800 spectators.
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Four-portico
building. There are remains of a four-sided building in the extension of
the skene of the Theatre.
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Boukopion.
At Vigli, northeast of the Acropolis, was the Boukopion, a place of sacrifices
as the name implies. 38 inscriptions on the rocks around identify the place.
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"The Tomb
of Kleoboulos". This has no connection with the tyrant of Lindos, but was
the tomb of a wealthy family. It is a circular structure with carefully
built masonry and a vaulted roof. The doorway has a cornice decorated with
palmettes. On the inside a bed hewn out of the rock was a kind of sarcophagus
and had a cover, which has not survived (2nd-1st c. BC). Traces of wall-painting
and the name "Ayios Aimilianos" testify to its conversion into a Christian
church in a later period.
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The Archokrateion.
In the locality of Kampana at Krana, on the hill west of the Acropolis,
there is a rock-cut tomb. The exterior facade has two stories; half-columns
on the ground floor support an architrave with metopes and triglyphs, and
on the upper floor pillars alternate with blind openings. On the first
floor facade funerary altars were erected with the names of the dead inscribed
on their bases.
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The Naiskos
of the Taxiarch Michael Stratelates below the village square. There is
a shallow niche with a post-Byzantine representation of the Archangel Michael
Psychopompos.
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West of
it, near the remains of the Moslem cemetery, is a shallow niche containing
the representation of a mounted saint, possibly 15th c. These remains are
known as Ayios Georgios Kammenos.
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The Church
of the Panayia.
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Ayios
Georgios Chostos,
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Ayios
Georgios Pachymachiotis or Pano.
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Ayios
Menas is the same type as Ayios Georgios Chostos
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Ayios
Demetrios is a small barrel-vaulted church northeast of the entrance to
the Acropolis. I
The modern
village of Lindos. The entrance to the village is on the north,
by its only square, which is now used as a carpark and has a large tree
in the middle and a small fountain with many features from the period of
the Knights. Rocks behind and above it recall ancient aqueducts. The graveyard
is also at the entrance to the village, containing the church of Phaneromeni.
A little beyond and below the square are the remains of the Moslem cemetery
containing a few graves, whose typical grave markers have been demolished.
The school has been moved to the side of the Megalo Yialo and the old building,
beside the church of the Panayia, built in the neoclassical style, is now
used by a local society for various cultural events.
The
streets of Lindos are a maze of continuous buildings, chiefly with interior
courtyards. Most of the houses have flat roofs, but some variety of types
can be seen among the buildings that have not been affected by time and
changes of use and shape. The material used in their construction is either
the local quarried poros stone or field stones which have been plastered
and whitewashed. The houses of Lindos all have features in common, but
they can be divided into different classes: simple ones resembling the
country cottages of the island, houses with a courtyard, and mansions.
The
most representative mansions are known by the names of their owners: the
House of Papakonstantis (1626), of Kyriakos Koliodos, of Lefteris Makris
(1700), of Krikis (1700), of Georgios, of Marietta Markoulitsa (1700),
of Ioannidis, etc. With the arrival of neoclassicism in Greece at the end
of the 19th c, Lindos, Like Rhodes town, adopted some of the new architectural
features: large windows facing the street, two-storey houses with tiled
saddle roofs and gable ends. The doors in the yard walls have jambs and
lintels reminiscent of ancient temples. New houses were also built, which
no longer had anything in common with the old mansions.
Tickets
Full
admission 6
Reduced
admission 3
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students
from countries outside the E.U.
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citizens
of the E.U. aged over 65
Free admission
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persons
under 18
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university
students from Greece and the E.U.
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students
of Classical Studies or Fine Arts from countries outside the E.U.
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members
of the ICOM-ICOMOS
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tour guides
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journalists
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persons
possessing a free admission card
Days of
free admission for all visitors
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Sundays
in the period between 1 November and 31 March
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the first
Sunday of every month, except for July, August and September (when the
first Sunday is holiday, then the second is the free admission day, etc.)
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