Rhodes has everything from beautiful beaches to a lush, green interior, a bustling capital and one of the best sunshine records in Greece. The rock-rose is so prolific here that it has been named the 'Island of Roses' and while the northern coast is renowned for its lively tourist resorts the south offeres tranquil beaches and a slower, more simple pace of life.
Cities
Other destinations
Understand
Rhodes is a major tourist attraction for the seekers of sunny beaches. While many of its beaches are gravel, not sand; the island can boast 300+ sun days in a year. Consequently, you will stumble into tourists and hotels and beaches full of deck chairs for rent, into shops and restaurants that cater to these tourists. It can be overwhelming at times. If this bothers you, Rhodes is probably not for you. Still, there are some areas where mass tourism has not yet penetrated too much. And there are advantages, too: travel to and accommodation on Rhodes itself can be purchased for relatively low prices, and most of the locals speak at least English and German and often some other languages.
Tourist information
The local tourist information office for the Dodecanese Islands is located in Rhodes city at Makariou & Papagou Corner (opposite the New Market). Telephone 22410 44335-6, Fax 22410 26955.
Talk
Greek is the native language of the people of Rhodes. However, most people also speak passable English and many speak German or other European languages.
Get in
By boat
Rhodes is accessable via ferry from Symi, Tilos, and Bodrum, as well as Datca and Marmaris in Turkey.
Cruise ships dock at the Commercial Port, east of Rhodes (city)'s Old Town.
Visit Greek Travel Pages and search through all ferry schedules to/from Rhodes and the rest of the Greek islands.
By plane
The island is served by Diagoras International Airport with the IATA code RHO. The airport is situated on the west coast about 14km from Rhodes Town. There are regular flights to and from Athens, Thessaloniki, and Crete; charter airlines connect Rhodes with many major cities all over Europe. In 2006 a new wing was built at Diagoras Airport, that will open in 2007 to service only the charter flights, which during high season can reach 150-180 per day!
Notice that the airport parking is small.
Get around
By bus
Public buses operate throughout the islands.
The main bus terminal in Rhodes city is the Neá Agorá (New Market). Schedules and prices can be found at the ticket booths.
Tickets can also be bought in the bus from a cashier or directly from the driver. Keep your ticket until the end of your voyage. The price of a bus ticket will depend on the destination. For example, a trip from Rhodes city to Faliraki will cost 1.80 Euros.
Bus stops on the road are marked by a sign, but do not hesitate to signal a bus driver that you wish to board. Bus stops do not have the timetables displayed.
One useful line is the 21, which serves the large hotels on Rhodes' east coast with Faliraki as the final destination, departs from Rhodes city almost every half-hour.
By taxi
Taxis on Rhodes are dark blue with white roofs. There is a list of expected maximum taxi charges you can obtain from the tourist information office. For example, a trip from Rhodes city to Faliraki should not cost more than 13 Euros; the trip from the Airport to Rhodes city a maximum of 16 Euros. The minimum fare for each trip is 4.00 Euros, the taximeter starts at 0.85 Euros. Never let the driver turn off the meter.
You can radio a taxi via telephone number 22410 69800. This adds a standard surcharge of 1.50 Euros. Waiting fare is 7.90 Euros per hour. Between midnight and 5 AM you will have to pay twice the normal rates. You can book ahead to avoid delays at high traffic times such as weekends.
By car
It is not worth the hassle to bring your own car to the island, although it is in theory possible. You can rent a car at the airport or via any hotel and at many local dealers. Asphalt highways will allow you to reach the entire island, although roads in the interior - especially the south - may turn out to be little more than dirt paths.
By motorcycle
Motorbikes and mopeds are popular alternatives to cars. Especially mopeds are frequently used by local youths and can go to many places that cars cannot go - for example the twisted narrow streets of Rhodes city. An additional advantage is that they are cheap to rent - 10 to 15 Euros a day is the usual price.
If you start a day-trip with a moped, make you sure you do so on a full tank, as gas stations are sometimes hard to find. An extra stop at a gas station can save a lot of nerves. When renting a moped, check if the profile of the tyres is ok and if the brakes work properly. If it is the last vehicle in store, be suspicious - it could be the one that needs a repair badly. Though helmets are not required on the streets, it might be a good idea to ask your rent-a-bike for one, especially if you intend to drive on streets with more traffic.
See
Do
Beaches
There is a good variety of beaches on Rhodes. The east side of the island has almost continuous sandy beaches with calm waters. Beaches on the west are mostly more stony. The wind mostly comes in from the west and also the sea tends to be somewhat rougher to the west so that side of the island is better suited to surfing or kite boarding.
Buy
Eat
See the Eat section under each town for specific listings.
Drink
The tap water is drinkable and restaurants will serve glasses of ice water upon request. Local drinks include Mythos (beer) and Ouzo.
Stay safe
Rhodes is a generally safe destination. There are a few things to look out for.
Get out
It lies approximately 11 miles (18 km) to the west of the Turkish shores, situated between the Greek mainland and the island of Cyprus. As of 2007, it has a population that exceeds 130,000, of whom roughly 80,000 reside in the City of Rhodes, the island's capital.
Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today Rhodes is a major international tourist destination.
History
Geography
The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead, 79.7 km long and 38 km wide with a total area of approximately 1,398 km² (540 square miles) and a coastline of approximately 220 km. The city of Rhodes is located at the far northern end of the island, including the site of the ancient and modern commercial harbor. The main air gateway (Diagoras International Airport, IATA code: RHO) is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.
In terms of flora and fauna, Rhodes is closer to Asia Minor than to the rest of Greece. The interior of the country is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of Pine (Pinus brutia) and Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). The island is home to Rhodian deer. In Petaludes (Petaloudes) Valley, known in English as the Valley of the Butterflies, large numbers of tiger moths gather in the summer. Mount Attavyros, at 3,986 ft (1,215 m), is the island's highest point of elevation. While the shores are stony, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown.
Outside of the city of Rhodes, the island is dotted with small villages and beach resorts, among them Faliraki, Lindos, Kremasti, Haraki, Pefkos, Archangelos, Afandou, Koskinou, Embona (Attavyros), Paradisi, and Trianta (Ialysos). Tourism is the island's primary source of income.
Ancient Times
The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although little remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC the Minoans came to Rhodes, and later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race they called the Telchines, and associated Rhodes with Danaus; it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis. In the 15th century the Achaeans invaded. It was, however, in the 11th century that the island started to flourish, with the coming of the Dorians. It was the Dorians who later built the three important cities of Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros, which together with Kos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis.
In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhode, and the cities were named for their three sons. The rhoda is a pink hibiscus native to the island.
Invasions by the Persians eventually overran the island, but after their defeat by the forces from Athens in 478 BC, the cities joined the Athenian League. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and had decided to go her own way.
In 408 BC the cities united to form one territory, and built a new capital on the northern end of the island, the city of Rhodes: its regular plan was superintended by the Athenian architect Hippodamus. However the Peloponnesian War had so weakened the entire Greek culture that it lay open to invasion. In 357 BC the island was conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria, then fell to the Persians 340 BC. But their rule was also short and to the great relief of its citizens, Rhodes became a part of the growing empire of Alexander III of Macedon in 332 BC after he defeated the Persians.
Following the death of Alexander his generals vied for control of the kingdom. Three of them, Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigonus, succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and together they formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance which controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC. The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center and its coins were in circulation almost everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy and science and literature and rhetoric, shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetorician Aeschines who formed a school at Rhodes; Apollonius of Rhodes; the astronomers Hipparchus and Geminus, the rhetorician Dionysios Trax. Its school of sculptors developed a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as "Hellenistic Baroque".
In 305 BC, Antigonus had his son, Demetrius besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created huge siege engines including a 180 foot battering ram and a siege tower named Helepolis that weighed 360,000 pounds. Despite this engagement, in 304 BC, after only one year he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios, the statue now known as Colossus of Rhodes.
In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a treaty with Rome, and became a major schooling center for Roman noble families, and was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as Hermagoras and the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics. Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city.
In the 1st century AD, the Emperor Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes, and Saint Paul brought Christianity to the island. Rhodes reached her zenith in the third century, and was then by common consent the most civilized and beautiful city in Hellas. In 395, the long Byzantine Empire period began for Rhodes, when the Roman empire was split and the eastern half gradually became a Greek empire. Although part of Byzantium for the next thousand years, Rhodes was nevertheless repeatedly attacked by various forces. It was first occupied by Muslim forces of Muawiyah I in 672. Much later, Rhodes was retrieved for the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus during the First Crusade.
Medieval Period
In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end when the island was subjugated by forces of the Knights Hospitaller. Under the rule of the newly named "Knights of Rhodes,", the city was rebuilt into a model of the European mediaeval ideal. Many of the city's famous monuments, including the Palace of the Grand Master , were built during this period.
The strong walls which the Knights had built withstood the attacks of the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, and of Mehmed II in 1480. Ultimately, however, Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522. The few remaining Knights were permitted to retire to the Kingdom of Sicily. The Knights would later move their base of operations to Malta. The island was thereafter a possession of the Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries.
Modern History and Religion
In 1912, Rhodes was seized from the Turks by the Italians, and in 1948, together with the other islands of the Dodecanese, was united with Greece. It thus bypassed many of the events associated with the "exchange of the minorities" between Greece and Turkey. Therefore it retains a Turkish minority today, unlike many other Aegean islands. There is also a Catholic minority on the island many of whom are Italians who remained after the end of the Italian occupation of the island and a Lutheran community made up mostly of Scandinavian and Finnish residents. The Greek Orthodox Church is of course the predominant religion throughout Greece.
Landmarks
Archeological/Historical sites
In ancient times, Rhodes was home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the Colossus of Rhodes. This giant bronze statue once stood in the harbour. It was completed in 280 BC but was destroyed in an earthquake in 224 BC. No trace of the statue remains today.
Historical sites on the island of Rhodes include the Acropolis of Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes, the Temple of Apollo, ancient Ialysos, ancient Kamiros, the Governor's Palace, Rhodes Old Town (walled medieval city), the Palace of the Grand Masters, Kahal Shalom Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, the Archeological Museum, the ruins of the castle of Monolithos, the castle of Kritinia and St. Catherine Hospice.
Museums
Historical events
Government
Rhodes is the capital of Dodecanese Prefecture and the most important island of the South Aegean Region. The local association of municipalities and communities of the Dodecanese, TEDKD, is responsible for joining efforts and actions for the whole island as well as prefecture. Late talks suggest the incorporation of the 10 municipalities of the island in to one or two metropolitan municipalities in order to achieve flexible administration with profitable outcome for the whole island.
Administrative Division
The island is divided to 10 municipalities that each may contains many towns or villages called municipal departments. These are:
Languages
Greek is the native language but most of the locals are bi or multi linguals with English, German, French and Italian being the mostly spoken. There is also a local accent especially in villages, which is mainly used by elderly people that other Greeks find peculiar or difficult to follow.
Economy
It is a fact that Rhodes economy is tourism-oriented but contrary to general beliefs other sectors also contribute to an above Greek average economic condition. Although the island has scarce raw materials and thus industrial production is almost null there are many small industries that process imported raw materials and offer the final goods to local markets. The most developed sectors include agricultural goods production, stockbreeding, fishery and winery. Finally, the most developed sector, service provision, includes except tourism related activities (hotels, restaurants, bars etc.) a vast majority of large, medium and small scaled services.
Health Structures
Healthcare services on the island are well organized and up to date. Rhodes has two hospitals (one public, one private) and a number of Health Centers (small hospitals) and Community Clinics.
Roads
The road network of the island is mostly modern and paved, with some renovations carried out in recent years. There are four major arteries:
Future plans include further widening of E-95 from Faliraki to Lindos (about 36km., four lane avenue with jersey tupe safety island) with the first part scheduled to start in August 2007. Plans also exist for a new four lane express avenue connecting Rhodes Town with Diagoras Airport that will de-congest the coastal west avenue and finally the first part of constructions of Rhodes City ringway begun a few years ago but due to slow progress is mentioned as a future road.
Car/Motorbike
There are 80,000 registered cars and 70.000 motorbikes/scooters on the island. Families in Rhodes often own more than one car, along with a motorbike. Traffic jams are common particularly in the summer months.
Bus
Bus services are handled by two operators
Taxi
The island is served by 450 taxis (most of them in Rhodes Town).
Air
Rhodes has three airports but only one is public. Diagoras Airport, one of the biggest in Greece, is the main entrance /exit point for both locals and tourists. The island is well connected with other major Greek cities and islands as well as with major European capitals and cities via charter flights. Since last year GB Airways, a subsidiary of British Airways, offers scheduled flights from London-Gatwick and this year Aegean Airlines connects daily Rhodes with Rome-Fiumicino and Cyprus Airways with Larnaca.
Two pilot schools offer aviation services (small plane rental, island hopping).
Sea
Rhodes has five ports, three of them in Rhodes City, one in the west coast near Kamiros and one in east coast near Lardos.
Communications
Rhodes is equipped with modern and state of the art telecom facilities. In fact it was the first place in Greece that digital land lines were installed in the 90s as well as a mobile phone network prior to GSM.
Land Lines
Automated dialing/calling center corresponding to three area codes (22410, 22440, 22460).
Mobile Coverage
Almost all the island is covered by the three companies operating in Greece (Wind Hellas, Vodafone, Cosmote).
Internet
High speed, ADSL available, hot spots mainly in hotels, cafes
Sports
The island in general boosts and evolves a wide variety of sports either in professional or in amateur level.
Trivia
See also
Photos
Image:Rhodes atavyros.jpg|Mountain Atavyros, the highest on Rhodes (1215m)
Image:Rhodes filerimos 2.jpg|Hill of Filerimos, location of the city of Ialyssos
Image:Rhodes filerimos.jpg|Hill of Filerimos, location of the city of Ialyssos
Image:Rhodes beach.jpg|Stegna Beach, Rhodes
Image:Rhodes beach2.jpg|Ladiko Beach, Rhodes
Image:Rhodes old town.jpg|Old Town of Rhodes
Image:Rhodes traditional house.jpg|Traditional house in the village of Archangelos on Rhodes
Image:Rhodes siana village.jpg|Sianna village
Image:Archangelos (Rhodos) Glockenturm.JPG|The Aghios Archangelos Church in the city of Archangelos.
Image:Eleousa rhodes.jpg|Eleousa village
Image:Amboise.jpg|Old Town of Rhodes, D'Amboise Gate
Image:Rhodos Monolithos.jpg|Monolithos.
External links
