An Eastern Breeze through the Citadel

Our second visit to a site of one of the Seven Wonders: Rhodes. The fabled Colossus, the same size as the Statue of Liberty, is always portrayed as astride the harbor. Actually, the gigantic bronze statue portraying Helios, god of the sun, stood at the highest point in what is now Old Town for only 65 years, when it was toppled by an earthquake. What stands there now and has since the 1300’s, is the Palace of the Grand Masters, built by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The Knights ruled Rodos for two centuries before being ousted by the Turks for four centuries, until they were defeated by the Italians, who proceeded to try to systematically remove any Turkish traces. That didn’t quite work. Rhodes Old Town is in fact an intoxicating mix of citadel and souk, Its medieval heyday is always visible in the arches and ribbed vaults, But perhaps by sheer proximity, the atmosphere is redolent with an Eastern air. Rhodes’ charm is not choked by tourism like the Plaka in Athens or sections of Corfu Town, it endures like the crusaders’ masonry.Read more