Rhodes is steeped in history and has been inhabited since the Stone Age. Cretans were the first to settle on the island but after the Trojan War in 1184 BC the Phoenicians and the Dorians settled there. It was renown for it’s famous artists, philosophers and writers in the 3rd century. It has been under the rule of Greece, the Romans, the Muslim forces of both Muawiyah and the Selijuk Turks. Then it was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller (soon to be the ‘Knights of Rhodes’),part of the Ottoman Empire, occupied by the Italians and lastly Rhodes was reunited with Greece again in 1947, along with the other Dodecanese islands. Rhodes has played an interesting role in modern day history especially the Second World War. The Gestapo rounded up the island’s Jewish inhabitants on the 19th July 1944, to send them to their extermination camps. Only 160 of the islands 600 Greek Jews survived.
There have been a huge amount of antiquities found on the island and there are numerous ancient sites for people to visit. Rhodes was the home of one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Unfortunately the Colossus of Rhodes (a giant bronze statue) was completely destroyed in an earthquake in 224BC. There is however a wealth of historical sites such a the Acropolis of Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes, The Temple of Apollo, The Governor’s Palace and Rhodes Old town, to name but a few.
In mythology some say that the island's name derives from the nymph Rhodes. Others maintain that Rhodes was named after the rose, either because the island was abundant in these beautiful flowers or because the ancient inhabitants likened it's beauty to that of a rose.
There is so much history in relation to this island that I have only done a brief synopsis but if you would like to know more,
www.wikipedia.com and
www.rhodesguide.com have a more details for you to read.
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