The island has been known asΡόδος (Ródos) in Greek throughout its history. Similar-soundingῥόδον (rhódon) in ancient Greek was the word for the rose, whilst in modern Greek the also similar-sounding ρόδι (ródi) or ρόιδο (róido) refers to the pomegranate. It was also called Lindos (Ancient Greek:Λίνδος).[4][5] In addition, the island has been calledRodi inItalian,Rodos inTurkish, andרודי (Rodi) orרודיס (Rodes) inLadino.
Other ancient names were Ρόδη (Rodē), Τελχινίς (Telchinis) and Ηλιάς (Helias).
During theLate Pleistocene, the island was inhabited by an unnamed species ofdwarf elephant.[8] The island has been inhabited by humans since at least the lateNeolithic, as evidenced by remains found at Kalythies cave on the northeast of the island.[9][10]
At the end of the3rd millennium BC, during the EarlyBronze Age, major urban settlements began to develop on Rhodes, such as Asomatos, which is the earliest known urban centre on the island. Duck shaped vases found at Asomatos suggest contact with Cyprus as well as elsewhere in the Aegean region during this time.[11]
TheMinoan Civilisation established a settlement at Tiranda on the northwest of the island during the16th century BC, presumably to facilitate trade.[12]
In the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form, with the coming of theDorians, who built the three important cities ofLindus,Ialysus andCamirus, which together withKos,Cnidus andHalicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-calledDorian Hexapolis (Greek for six cities).
InPindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union ofHelios the sun god and the nymphRhodos, and the cities were named for their three sons. Therhoda is a pinkhibiscus, native to the island.Diodorus Siculus added thatActis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, travelled toEgypt. He built the city ofHeliopolis and taught the Egyptiansastrology.[15]
In the second half of the 8th century BC, the sanctuary of Athena received votive gifts that are markers for cultural contacts: small ivories from the Near East and bronze objects from Syria. AtKameiros on the northwest coast, a former Bronze Age site, where the temple was founded in the 8th century BC, there is another notable contemporaneous sequence of carved ivory figurines. The cemeteries of Kameiros and Ialyssos yielded several exquisite exemplars of the Orientalizing Rhodian jewelry, dated in the 7th and early 6th centuries BC.[16]
ThePersians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces fromAthens in 478 BC. The Rhodian cities joined theAthenian League. When thePeloponnesian 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 decided to go their own way.
Being the eastern gate to the Aegean Sea, Rhodes was an important stopping point forPhoenician merchants, and prosperous trading colonies and Phoenician communities emerged there, some within the Greek cities.[17]
Following the death of Alexander, his generals (Diadochi) vied for control of the kingdom. Three —Ptolemy,Seleucus, andAntigonus — succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies inAlexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC.[18]
In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son,Demetrius, tobesiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created hugesiege engines, including a 180 ft (55 m)battering ram and asiege tower calledHelepolis that weighed 360,000 lb (163,293 kg). 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 since called theColossus of Rhodes. The Rhodians celebrated in honour of Helios a grand festival, theHalieia.[20]
Throughout the 3rd century BC, Rhodes attempted to secure its independence and commerce, particularly its virtual control over thegrain trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Both of these goals depended on none of the three great Hellenistic states achieving dominance. Consequently, the Rhodians pursued a policy of maintaining a balance of power among the Antigonids, Seleucids, and Ptolemies, even if that meant going to war with its traditional ally, Egypt. To this end, they employed their economy and their excellent navy as leverage, which was manned by proverbially the finest sailors in the Mediterranean world: “If we have ten Rhodians, we have ten ships.”[21]
The Rhodians also established their dominance on the shores ofCaria across from their island, which became known as the "Rhodian Peraia". It extended roughly from the modern city ofMuğla (ancientMobolla) in the north andKaunos borderingLycia in the south, near the present-dayDalyan, Turkey.
Rhodes successfully carried on this policy through the course of the third century BC, an impressive achievement for what was essentially a democratic state. By the end of that period, however, the balance of power was crumbling, as declining Ptolemaic power made Egypt an attractive target for Seleucid ambitions. In 203/2 BC the young and dynamic kings of Antigonid Macedon and Seleucid Asia,Philip V andAntiochus III, agreed to accept—at least temporarily—their respective military ambitions: Philip'scampaign in the Aegean andwestern Anatolia and Antiochus' plan for Egypt. Heading a coalition of small states, the Rhodianschecked Philip's navy, but not his superior army. Without a third power to which to turn, the Rhodians (along with ambassadors from Pergamum, Egypt, and Athens) appealed in 201 BC to theRoman Republic.[22][23]
Medieval gate at the Acropolis ofLindosSilverdrachma of Rhodes, 88/42 BC. Obverse: radiate head ofHelios. Reverse:rose,"rhodon" (ῥόδον), the symbol of Rhodes.
Despite being exhausted by theSecond Punic War againstHannibal (218–201 BC) the Romans agreed to intervene, still angry over the Macedonian alliance with Carthage that had led to theFirst Macedonian War from 214 to 205 BC. The Senate saw the appeal from Rhodes and her allies as the opportunity to pressure Philip. The result was theSecond Macedonian War (200–196 BC), which Rome won and greatly reduced Macedon's power, prestige, and territory. Rhodian independence was preserved. Rhodian influence in the Aegean was cemented through the organization of theCyclades into theSecond Nesiotic League under Rhodian leadership.
The Romans withdrew from Greece after the end of the conflict, but the resulting power vacuum quickly drew in Antiochus III and subsequently the Romans. TheRoman–Seleucid War lasted from 192 to 188 BC with Rome, Rhodes, Pergamon, and other Roman-allied Greek states defeated the Seleucids and their allies, the last Mediterranean power that might even vaguely threaten Roman dominance. Having provided Rome with valuable naval help in her first foray into Asia, the Rhodians were rewarded with territory and enhanced status by theTreaty of Apamea (188 BC).[24] The Romans once again evacuated the east – the Senate preferred clients to provinces – but it was clear that Rome now ruled the Mediterranean and Rhodian autonomy was ultimately dependent upon good relations with them.
Those good graces soon evaporated in the wake of theThird Macedonian War (171–168 BC). In 169 BC, during the war againstPerseus, Rhodes sentAgepolis as ambassador to the consulQuintus Marcius Philippus, and then to Rome in the following year, hoping to turn the Senate against the war.[25]
Rhodes remained scrupulously neutral during the war, but in the view of hostile elements in the Senate she had been a bit too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some actually proposed declaring war on the island republic, but this was averted. In 164 BC, Rhodes became a "permanent ally" of Rome, which was essentially a reduction toclient state of nominal but meaningless independence. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.
After surrendering its independence, Rhodes became a cultural and educational center for Roman noble families. It was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such asHermagoras and the unknown author ofRhetorica 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 43 BC. In the early Imperial period Rhodes became a favorite place for political exiles.[26]
In the 1st century AD, the EmperorTiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes. By tradition,Paul the Apostle evangelized and helped establish anearly Christian church on the island during the first century.[27]
In ancient times there was a Roman saying: "Hic Rhodus, hic salta!"—"Here is Rhodes, jump here!" (as translated from Ancient Greek "Αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ Ῥόδος καὶ πήδημα"), an admonition to prove one's idle boasts by deed, rather than boastful talk. It comes from anAesop's fable called "The Boasting Traveller" and was cited byHegel,Marx, andKierkegaard.
Rhodes was occupied by the IslamicUmayyad forces of CaliphMuawiyah I in 654, who carried off the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes.[28][32] The island was again captured by the Arabs in 673 as part of theirfirst attack on Constantinople. When their fleet was destroyed byGreek fire before Constantinople and by storms on its return trip, however, the Umayyads evacuated their troops in 679/80 as part of the Byzantine–Umayyad peace treaty.[33] In 715 the Byzantine fleet dispatched against the Arabs launched a rebellion at Rhodes, which led to the installation ofTheodosios III on the Byzantine throne.[28][34]
As Byzantine central power weakened under theAngeloi emperors (1185–1204), in the first half of the 13th century, Rhodes became the centre of an independent domain underLeo Gabalas and his brotherJohn,[28] until it wasoccupied by theGenoese in 1248–1250. The Genoese were evicted by theEmpire of Nicaea, after which the island became a regular province of the Nicaean state (and after 1261 of the restored Byzantine Empire). In 1305, the island was given as a fief toAndrea Morisco, a Genoese adventurer who had entered Byzantine service.
In 1306–1310, the Byzantine era of the island's history came to an end whenthe island was occupied by theKnights Hospitaller.[28] Under the rule of the newly named "Knights of Rhodes", the city was rebuilt into a model of the European medieval ideal. Many of the city's famous monuments, including thePalace of the Grand Master, were built during this period.
The walls had been strengthened by the Knights through hiring Italian engineers that used knowledge of ballistics to design defences against gunpowder attacks, and which withstood the attacks of theSultan of Egypt in 1444, and asiege by theOttomans underMehmed II in 1480. Eventually, however, Rhodesfell to the large army ofSuleiman the Magnificent in December 1522. The Sultan deployed 400 ships delivering 100,000 men to the island (200,000 in other sources). Against this force the Knights, under Grand MasterPhilippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, had about 7,000 men-at-arms, with an English, Spanish, French, and Italian contingent each defending separate areas and their fortifications. The siege lasted six months, at the end of which the surviving defeated Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to theKingdom of Sicily. Despite the defeat, both Christians and Muslims seem to have regarded the conduct of Villiers de L'Isle-Adam as extremely valiant, and the Grand Master was proclaimed a Defender of the Faith by Pope Adrian VI (seeKnights of Cyprus and Rhodes). The knights would later move their base of operations toMalta andGozo.
5 soldi Austrian Levant stamp cancelled in brownRHODUS.[36]Italian landing at Rhodes on May 4, 1912, during the Italo-Turkish WarPalazzo Governale (today the offices of the Prefecture of the Dodecanese), built during theItalian period
In the 19th century the island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews, whose presence goes back 2,300 years.[37] Under Ottoman rule, they generally did fairly well, but discrimination and bigotry occasionally arose. In February 1840, the Jews of Rhodes were falsely accused by the Greek Orthodox community of ritually murdering a Christian boy. This became known as theRhodes blood libel.
Austria opened a post-office atRHODUS (Venetian name) before 1864,[38] as witnessed by stamps withFranz Joseph's head.
In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Ottomans during theItalo-Turkish War. Being under Italian administration, the island's population was thus spared the"exchange of the minorities" between Greece andTurkey. Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese Islands were assigned to Italy in the Treaty of Ouchy. Although the treaty stipulated that the islands were to be returned to Turkey, the advent ofWorld War I prevented this from happening. Turkey ceded them officially to Italy with the 1923Treaty of Lausanne. It then became the core of their possession of theIsole Italiane dell'Egeo.
Thousands ofItalian colonists settled in the island, mainly in the capital "Rodi", while some of them founded farm villages (like "Peveragno Rodio" (1929), "Campochiaro" (1935), "San Marco" (1936) and "Savona" (1938): in 1940 the creation of the "Provincia italiana di Rodi" in the Dodecanese islands was officially proposed. In the late 1930s, Mussolini embarked on a program ofItalianization, attempting to make the island of Rhodes a transportation hub that would facilitate the spread of Italian culture inGreece and theLevant. TheFascist program coincided with improvements to infrastructure, building imposing buildings such as the Hotel Rodon, the Puccini Theater and many administrative buildings with master architects such asArmando Bernabiti andFlorestano Di Fausto.[39] While the government worked at modernization, they also obliterated many historical buildings that did not match their ideal of a modern society.
The island suffered through many "governors" appointed by the Italian government. As such, in 1938, the "Leggi razziali" (Racial Laws) were passed, mimicking the footsteps of the antisemitic policies promoted in other European countries. All Jews who served in the government, including the military, were forced to resign, school children were forced to abandon their studies, and all commerce that included any dealings with Jews was forbidden.
Following theItalian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides. This was anticipated by theGerman Army, which succeeded in occupying the island with theBattle of Rhodes. In great measure, the German occupation caused the British failure in the subsequentDodecanese Campaign.
After September 1943, the Jews were sent to concentration camps. However, theTurkish ConsulSelahattin Ülkümen succeeded, at considerable risk to himself and his family, in saving 42 Jewish families, about 200 persons in total, who had Turkish citizenship or were members of Turkish citizens' families.
Indian soldiers taking over a sentry post from a German soldier following the German surrender in 1945
On 8 May 1945, the Germans underOtto Wagener surrendered Rhodes as well as the Dodecanese as a whole to the British, who soon after then occupied the islands as a military protectorate.[40]
At theParis Peace Treaties, Rhodes, together with the other islands of theDodecanese, was united withGreece in February 1947. 6,000 Italian colonists were forced to abandon the island and returned to Italy.
In 2023, the island was hit by the2023 Greece wildfires, which forced the largest evacuations in the history of Greece. Nearly 19,000 people had to evacuate.[42]
The island of Rhodes is shaped like aspearhead, 79.7 km (49.5 mi) long and 38 km (24 mi) across at its widest, with a total area of approximately 1,400 km2 (541 sq mi) and a coastline of approximately 220 km (137 mi).Limestone is the main bedrock.[43] Thecity of Rhodes is located at the northern tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient and modern commercialharbours. The main airport is theDiagoras International Airport (IATA code: RHO), located 14 km (9 mi) to the southwest of the city inParadisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.
Rhodes is situated 363 km (226 mi) east-southeast from the Greek mainland, and 18 km (11 mi) from the southern shore ofTurkey. MountAttavyros, at 1,216 m (3,990 ft), is the island's highest point of elevation.
The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests ofpine (Pinus brutia) andcypress (Cupressus sempervirens). While the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land wherecitrus fruit,wine grapes, vegetables,olives and other crops are grown. Many flowering plants for which the island is named are abundant.
The Rhodian population offallow deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005, and to be of urgent conservation concern.[44] InPetaloudes Valley (Greek for "Valley of the Butterflies"), large numbers oftiger moths gather during the summer months.
Rhodes has a hot-summerMediterranean climate (Csa in theKöppen climate classification) with mild winters and hot summers. The South East of the island experiences a significantly warmer climate withLindos registering a mean annual temperature of around 22.0 °C (71.6 °F),[48] making it the warmest area in Greece.[49][50] TheRhodes International Airport in coastalParadeisi has never dropped below 1.2 °C (34.2 °F) from 1977 when the station started its operation.[51][52] The old inlandMaritsa Airport has dropped as low as −4.0 °C (24.8 °F).[53] The highest temperature ever recorded in Paradeisi was 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) while the highest temperature ever recorded on the island was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) inLindos.[54][55] Coastal Rhodes falls in 11ahardiness zone.[56] Moreover, according to theHellenic National Meteorological Service, South East Rhodes records the highest mean annual sunshine in Greece with over 3,100 hours.[57]
Rhodes has aTurkish Muslim minority,which includesGreek Muslims whose ancestors from Crete and the Dodecanese converted to Islam in the Ottoman period[citation needed]. Although a remnant fromOttoman Turkish times they were not required in thepopulation exchange of 1923–24 to resettle in Turkey like the Turkish, Greek, and other Muslim communities living mainly inMacedonia and other parts of Northern Greece because unlike these areas theDodecanese Islands were under Italian administration at the time. They are organized around the Turkish Association of Rhodes (Turkish:Rodos Türk Derneği), which gives the figure 3,500 for the population they bring together and represent for the island.[74] The number of the Turks in Rhodes could be as many as 4,000.[75][76][77]
The Jewish community of Rhodes[78] goes back 2,300 years.[37]Kahal Shalom Synagogue, established in 1557, during theOttoman era, is the oldest synagogue in Greece and still stands in the Jewish quarter (La Juderia) of the old town of Rhodes. At its peak in the 1920s, the Jewish community was one-third of the town's total population.[79] In the 1940s, there were about 2000 Jews of various ethnic backgrounds. The Nazis deported and killed most of the community during theHolocaust.Kahal Shalom has been renovated with the help of foreign donors but few Jews live year-round in Rhodes today, so services are not held on a regular basis.[80]
TheJewish Museum of Rhodes was established in 1997 to preserve the Jewish history and culture of the Jews of Rhodes. It is adjacent to the Kahal Shalom Synagogue.
The Congolese businessman and politician, and former governor of Katanga,Moïse Katumbi's father, Nissim Soriano was a GreekSephardic Jew, who fled Rhodes in 1938, who settled inKatanga, in theCongo, a Belgian colony at the time.[81]
The present municipality Rhodes was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 10 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in parentheses):[1]
The municipality has an area of 1400.681 km2.[83][failed verification] It covers the island of Rhodes and a few uninhabited offshore islets. Rhodes city was the capital of the formerDodecanese Prefecture. Rhodes is the most populated island of theSouth Aegean Region.[citation needed]
View of the market (Nea Agora) of Mandraki (Rhodes city), built during the Italian period
The economy is tourist-oriented, and the most developed sector is service. Tourism has elevated Rhodes economically, compared to the rest of Greece.[84]
Small industries process imported raw materials for local retail, though other industry includes agricultural goods production, stockbreeding, fishery and winery.
Rhodes has two airports, but only one is public.Diagoras Airport, southwest ofRhodes City, is the fourth biggest by passenger volume in Greece, and the main entrance/exit point to the island 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. Until 1977,Rhodes Maritsa Airport, built in 1938, was a public airport; it is now used by theHellenic Air Force and occasionally for car races.
There are also two inoperative airfields. Kalathos Airfield, north ofLindos, and Kattavia Airstrip, to the south of the island, were built by the Italians during theSecond World War. Neither remains operational.
Two pilot schools offer aviation services (small plane rental and island hopping).
Central Port: located in the city of Rhodes serves exclusively international traffic consisting of scheduled services to/from Turkey, cruise ships and yachts. Since Summer 2012, the port is also a homeport for Costa Cruises during the summer period.
Kolona Port: opposite and north of the central port, serves intra-Dodecanese traffic and all sizes yachts.
Akandia Port: the new port of the island, south and next to the central port, being built since the 1960s, for domestic, cargo and general purpose traffic. Since 2017 summer a passenger terminal is finally in use hosting a cafe and waiting lounges.[85]
Mandraki Port: the oldest port of the island, in the center of Rhodes city. Many cruise boats begin their daily trips to Symi island or to the southern east coast until Lindos.[86]
Kamiros Skala Dock: 30 km (19 mi) south west of the city nearAncient Kamiros ruins serves mainly the island ofHalki.
Lardos Dock: formerly servicing local industries, now under development as an alternative port for times when the central port is inaccessible due to weather conditions. It is situated in a rocky shore near the village of Lardos in south east Rhodes.
The road network of the island is mostly paved and consists of 3 national roads plus one planned, 40 provincial and numerous local. These are the four major island arteries:
Rhodes-Lindos National Avenue (Greek National Road 95): Four and two lane, runs mainly inland north to south and connects Rhodes City with Lindos.[citation needed] Part from Rhodes Town until Kolympia is now 4 lanes, the rest until Lindos is 2 lanes.
Rhodes-Kallithea-Faliraki Province Avenue 4: Two lanes, runs through the east coast north to south and connects Rhodes City with Kallithea monument and Faliraki Resort.[citation needed]
Tsairi-Airport National Avenue (Greek National Road 100): Four and two lane, runs inland east to west and connects the east coast with the west and the airport.[citation needed]
Lindos-Katavia Province Road 1: Two lane, begins just before Lindos and though villages and resorts leads to Katavia village, the southernmost of the island, from where a further deviation leads to Prasonissi.[citation needed]
Rhodes TownRing Road (Phase 1): Beginning from the new marina and ending to Rhodes-Kallithea province avenue is a four lane expressway.
Further widening of Rhodes-Lindos National Avenue (Greek National Road 95) from Kolympia to Lindos. This is to be four lane with ajersey barrier in the middle. A tender is expected to take place by end of 2019 so as constructions can begin.
Ring Road phases 2, 3, and 4 pending; phase 2 will extend the expressway toGreek National Road 95 and then to Rhodes General Hospital where it supposedly will connect to also planned new Rhodes City-Airport expressway. In June 2018 Rhodes municipality stated that plans for the final 700 meters of the ring road leading to Akandia Port are pending approval.[87] Phases 3 and 4 which plan to run the ring road from hospital hill down to Ixia and then through Kritika back to the town will most probably never occur.
Plans also exist for a new four lane express road connecting Rhodes Town withDiagoras Airport. The road, recognised as National back in 2014,[88] will follow existing Provincial Road 3 routing with a total length of 8.6 km and including 3 main junctions and is intended to relieve congestion on the coastal west avenue. The so-called Leoforos Mesogeion is vastly anticipated and is a top priority for local authorities.
RODA: Municipal bus company that serves Rhodes city as well suburban areas (Koskinou, Faliraki, Ialysos, Kremasti, Airport, Pastida, Maritsa, Paradeisi) and the west coast of the island
KTEL: Limited liability private transport company that serve villages and resorts in the east coast of the island
Families in Rhodes often own more than one car, along with a motorbike. Traffic jams are common particularly in the summer months as vehicles more than double while parking spots downtown and around the old town are limited and can't cope with demand. Moreover, the island is served by 450 taxis and some 200 public and private buses adding to the traffic burden.
Football:AS Rodos andDiagoras F.C. are the island's biggest teams and rivals. The latter competed in the 2018–19 season at the national level third tier (Gamma Ethniki) along withGAS Ialysos and both achieved promotion to (Greek Football League).AS Rodos competed in 1st tier of the local league and ranking 1st achieved promotion and returned after one year to (Gamma Ethniki) which in the 2019–20 season became tier 4. Local football leagues (organized at the prefecture-level) contain three divisions with more than 50 teams.[90] Many stadiums are grass-covered.[91]
Basketball:Colossus BC sponsors professional basketball and after more than a decade of presence in the top-levelGreek Basket League was relegated toGreek A2 Basket League. The local league includes a single division with two groups, one for Rhodes and the other for the other islands, with 7 and 5 teams respectively.[92] Three indoor courts exist in Rhodes City, and one each in Ialysos, Kremasti, and Faliraki.Archangelos town will also get an indoor court according to Rhodes municipality planned works and regional government's approved funds.[93]
Volleyball: Rodion Athlisis managed to escape local obscurity and until 2018–19 season competed at the national level second-tier failing to achieve promotion to the first level in playoffs for three consecutive seasons.[94] This unlucky streak caused team sponsors to withdraw from the men's team and focus solely on developing youth academies.[95]
Water polo: mostly amateur-based. There is not any single public indoor pool on the island.
Rugby: introduced in 2007. Teams compete at the national level.[citation needed]
Tennis: Rhodes Tennis Club (Ροδιακός Όμιλος Αντισφαίρισης) promotes officially tennis since 1949. Club operates on two separate locations, one downtown next to the casino and one next toKallipateira National Athletic Centre.[96]
Sailing: Island has competed at the international level[citation needed]
Pitaroudia, a traditional chickpea dumpling from Rhodes and DodecaneseFanouropitaMelekouni
Rhodian tradition in cuisine is rich.Koriantolino andSouma (colorless alcoholic beverage produced from grape distillation) are the main alcoholic drinks of Rhodes. Local foods include:
Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), writer and poet, author ofThe Alexandria Quartet, resided on Rhodes 1945–1947. In 1953 his travel book about Rhodes –Reflections on a Marine Venus – was published.
Rhodes is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Greece. AfterCrete, the island is the most visited destination in Greece, with arrivals standing at 1,785,305 in 2013. In 2014 they stood at 1,931,005, while in 2015 the arrival number reduced slightly and stood at 1,901,000.[citation needed] The average length of stay is estimated at 8 days. Guests from Great Britain, Israel, France, Italy, Sweden and Norway constitute the biggest portion in terms of the arrivals by country. In Rhodes, the supply of available rooms is high, since more than 550 hotels are operating in the island, the majority of which are two star hotels.
TheHellenic Traders series of historical novels by Harry Turtledove centers around the adventures of a trading galley based in Rhodes during the 4th century BCE.
^T. MARKETOU, Rhodes and Cyprus in the Bronze Age: 3ld and new evidence of contacts and interactions, in V. KARAGEORGHIS – O. KOUKA (eds), Cyprus and the East Aegean, Intercultural contacts from 3000 to 500 BC. An international archaeological symposium held at Pythagoreion, Samos, October 17th-18th 2008, Nicosia 2009, 48-58.
^B. d'Agostino, "Funerary customs and society on Rhodes in theGeometric Period: some observations", in E. Herring and I. Lemos, eds.Across Frontiers: Etruscans, Greeks, Phoenicians and Cypriots. Studies in Honour of D. Ridgway and F.R. Serra Ridgway 2006:57–69.
^A. Agelarakis"Demographic Dynamics and Funerary Rituals as Reflected from Rhodian Handra Urns",Archival Report, Archaeological and Historical Institute of Rhodes, 2005.
^Livy (1905). Rhys, Ernest (ed.).History of Rome, vol. V. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. pp. 38–39.Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved1 July 2021.
^Marco, M; Cavallaro, A; Pecchioli, E & Vernesi, C (11 November 2006), "Artificial Occurrence of the Fallow Deer, Dama dama dama (L., 1758), on the Island of Rhodes (Greece): Insight from mtDNA Analysis",Human Evolution,21 (2):167–175,doi:10.1007/s11598-006-9014-9,S2CID84328010
^"Rhodes, Greece, 1481".Jan Kozak Collection: KZ13, The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive.Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved15 July 2008.
^See Angel, Marc.The Jews of Rhodes: The History of a Sephardic Community. Sepher-Hermon Press Inc. and The Union of Sephardic Congregations. New York: 1978 (1st ed.), 1980 (2nd ed.), 1998 (3rd ed.).
Nicolle, David (1996).Sassanian Armies: The Iranian Empire Early 3rd to Mid-7th Centuries AD. Stockport, Cheshire, UK: Montvert Publications.ISBN978-1-874101-08-6.
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