RHODES AQUARIUM:

The building of the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodos was built during the period 1934-36. In 1937, under Italian rule, it operated as the Reale Istituto di Ricerce Biologiche di Rodi, until 1945, when, after the union of the Dodecanese with Greece, it was renamed “Hellenic Hydrobiological Institute” and operated under the supervision of the Academy of Athens.

Today, the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes operates as a Museum and Aquarium as well as a research centre,and belongs to the National Centre of Marine Research. The aim of the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes is the preservation and display of embalmed and living creatures of the Mediterranean sea.

In the aquarium the visitors (200.000 per year) can admire specimens of anthozoa, molluscs (gasteropods and cephalopods), species of the crab family, echinoderms, and fish of the following families: Dasyatidae, Mullidae, Sparidea, Centrachantidae, Labridae, Scaridae, Siganidae, Mugilidae, Scopaenidae, Triglidae, Balistidae,Monacanthidae, as well as sea turtles. In the Museum are also displayed exhibits such as various kinds of sharks and other fish, sea turtles, toothed whales, (Odontoceti) and Mediterranean monk seals.

Thanks to the research facilities of the Hydrobiological Station of Rhodes and the National Centre of Marine Research, the Station runs research programmes, covering every aspect of oceanogrphy in the area of the Dodecanese. It thus functions as a model research unit in the Mediterranean.

FILERIMOS HILL:

Filerimos is a hill 15 km away from Rhodes-town. The upper part of Filerimos is a large plateau and most of the buildings are found on the eastern side. They include the foundations of a temple, an Early Christian basilica and a Byzantine church.

Filerimos hill, takes its name from a monk who arrived here in the 13th century bearing an icon of Our Lady painted, as tradition goes, by St.Lukeears.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM OF RHODES:

The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes is housed in the medieval building of the Hospital of the Knights. The building was begun in 1440 by Grand Master de Lastic with money bequeathed by his predecessor, Fluvian, and completed in 1489 by Grand Master d’Aubusson. The Museum contains the following collections:

Tomb groups from ancient Ialysos of the Geometric and Classical periods: vases, figurines, jewellery, metal objects. Tomb groups from ancient Kamiros of the Geometric and Classical periods: vases and small objects. A collection of Classical, Hellenistic and Roman sculpture. Mosaic floors of the Hellenistic period from Rhodes town and of the Early Christian period from Karpathos. Funerary slabs from the period of the Knights with relief representations of the dead persons or of their coats of arms.

ANCIENT IALYSSOS:

The district of Ialyssos (or Ialysos) encompasses the northern part of the island. It was inhabited in the prehistoric period. Remains of a Minoan settlement have been found at Trianda and Mycenaean cemeteries have been located on the surrounding hills of Makria Vounara and Moschou Vounara (1700-1400 BC).

MONTE SMITH:

The Hill of Monte Smith is the site of the Acropolis of ancient Rhodes. The Green and beautifully laid out archaeological park contains the Hellenistic stadium, built in the 3rd century BC, where the Athletic events of the Alioi Games took place. There were a part of the major festival of the Ancient Rhodians held in honoour of the god Ilios.

ASKLIPIOS VILLAGE:

A picturesque village in the South East part of Rhodes with two spots worth seeing. A medieval castle and the Byzantine church of Theotokou at the center of Asklipios square with intresting Byzantine wall paintings and a small folklore museum.

At the top of the hill the mediaeval fortifications still seem to be watching over Asklipios, offering a marvelous view of the beach stretching end essly from Kiotari all the way to Gennadi.

ANCIENT KAMEIROS:

The district of Kameiros stretches along the northwest coast of the island close to Cape Ayios Minas (ancient Mylantion) in the foothills of Mt Akramytis. In prehistoric times the Mylantian gods, who taught mankind milling and kneading, were worshipped here. Mycenaean necropoleis have been excavated at Kalamvarda, west of Kameiros. Finds from the Geometric period (8th c. BC) testify to the existence of a temple dedicated to Athena on the Acropolis.

The earthquake of 226 BC destroyed the Classical city and probably the Classical temple of Athena Kameiras. The Hellenistic city was built on three levels according to the Hippodamian system. On the summit of the hill was the Acropolis with the Temple of Athena and the Stoa. On the middle terrace was the settlement and lower down the Hellenistic temple, Doric Fountain-house, Agora and Peribolos of the Altars. The area was embellished with numerous votive offerings, stelai and plinths with statues. The earthquake of 142 BC destroyed the city for the second time.

The Acropolis was first excavated by Biliotti and Salzmann in the last century (1852-1864). In 1928 during the Italian occupation of the island, the Italian Archaeological School began a systematic excavation of the area together with restoration work which continued until the end of the 2nd World War.

EXHIBITION “RHODES 2.400 YEARS”:

The exhibition “Ancient Rhodes – 2400 Years” is displayed in the Grand Master’s Palace”. It is a building of the Knights’ period, the ground floor of which belonged to the 7th c. Byzantine Acropolis. In 1856 the Palace together with the neighbouring church was demolished by a gunpowder explosion. In its present form it is a reconstruction by the Italian architect M. Mesturino made in 1940. The building was restored in 1988 on the occasion of the EEC Summit Meeting.

THE HOSPICE OF ST. CATHERINE:

The Hospice of St. Catherine was built in 1391-92, under grand master Heredia, by the Italian Domenico d’Allemagna, admiral of the Order of the Knights of St. John (Knights Hospitaller). The founder was an important personage, disposing of considerable means. The foundation charter of the Hospice in 1391 states that it was founded in the burgus of Rhodes, near the walls at the gate leading to the mole already known as the Gate of St. Catherine from 1465.

The situation of the building draws the eye, as it projects into the axis of the high street; the salient part carries the coats of arms of 1516. The Hospice, exclusively intended for eminent guests of the Order, was already in use from 1394-95; at this date traveller Niccole de Martoni described it as beautiful and splendid, with many handsome rooms containing many and good beds.

PALACE OF THE GRANDMASTER:

The palace was first built by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem on the site of 7th c. Byzantine fortress. After its dereliction during the Turkish occupation , it was largely destroyed by the explosion of the powder magazine in 1856. The restoration of the palace with many alterations was carried out between 1937 and 1940 under the supervision of the Iralian architect Vittorio Mesturino and the building was adorned with murals by P. Gaudenzi and F.Vellan.

MUNICIPAL GALLERY OF RHODES:

The Municipal Gallery of Rhodes was inaugurated in 1962 by Andreas Ioannou, a student of modern Greek painting, who was Prefect of the Dodekanese at the time. The Gallery today houses one of the most representative and authoritative collections of 20th-century Greek painting. Most of the Greek painters who worked creatively during these nine decades, developing the features of modern Greek painting, are represented in this collection through some of their most characteristic works.

There are works which marked the creative evolution of these artists, and which were presented in formal exhibitions both in Greece and abroad. The collection of the Municipal Art Gallery includes works by K. Maleas, C. Parthenis, F. Kontoglou, Theophilos, N. Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Sp. Vassiliou, J. Spyropoulos, Y. Gaitis, Fassianos, Kessanlis, Chr. Botsoglou, Moralis, Tsarouchis and many other Greek artists.

LINDOS ACROPOLIS:

According to myth, the cult of Athena Lindia was pre-Hellenic, although this is not borne out by the sporadic excavation finds. The history of the sanctuary begins in the Geometric period (9th c. BC). In the Archaoc period the tyrant of Lindos, Kleoboulos, revived the cult and built a temple, probably on the site of an earlier one. The Archaic temple had the same Doric tetrastyle amphiprostyle plan as the subsequent one. The sanctuary was approached by a rough flight of steps.

After it was burnt down in 342 BC, the present temple was built with the propylaea and the monumental staircase. The Hellenistic stoa is later. In the 3rd c. BC the cult of Zeus Polieus was introduced, although Athena remained the principal deity of the sanctuary. In the Roman period the priest Aglochartos planted olive trees on the spot, and according to an inscription the Sanctuary of Psithyros was built close to the Temple of Athena (2nd c. AD).

CASTLE OF KRITINIA:

It is a Venetian castle at a small distance from Kritinia village built on a steep rock, dominating the whole area.

SEVEN SPRINGS:

Epta piges (seven springs in Greek) lies on the way to Archipolis Village at a distance of about 3km before the church of Agios Nectarios. It is a valley flowing with clear springs and covered with enormous plane and pine trees. Here the visitor can experience the unique beauty of the interior regions of Rhodes.

CASTLE OF MONOLITHOS:

The mediaeval castle of Monolithos is standing among the pines on the great outcrop of an isolated rock from which the name Monolithos (lonely rock) is derived. Leave your car at the bottom and a ten-minute walk will bring you to the summit, where your only company is the sea and the fragrance of the wild herbs. Within the castle walls stands the church of Agios Panteleimon.

BUTTERFLIES VALLEY:

In the western side of the island of Rhodes, approximately five kilometers south east of the village of Theologos (or Tholos), lies the Valley of the Butterflies (Petaloudes). This is one of the most attractive destinations on the island. During August, thousands of butterflies of the genus Panaxia (species Quadripunctaria Poda) overwhelm the valley in order to reproduce.

RODINI PARK:

Rodini Park was probably the first landscaped park in the world. It was still popular with the Romans some years later and they left a bit of an aqueduct here. The park lies in a green and shady bed of a stream.

TSAMBIKA MONASTERY:

The road to Tsambika monastery turns off the main road, some meters before the road to Tsambika beach. The road leads half of the way up on the hill. From this point you will have to walk up the hill, following the 350 steps. On the top of the hill you will find the tiny, Byzantine church, dedicated to Our Lady. It’s perched high at 300 m with commanding coastal views, both north over Kolymbia and south over Tsambika beach until Lindos, which makes it worth, to climb up.

The legend is, that any woman, who has problems, having children should go up there (barefoot), to pray to the Virgin, she will be blessed with children. Here on Rhodes the success of this visit means the child must be called Tsambikos if it’s a boy, and Tsampika if it’s a girl. This name is unique on Rhodes. If you doubt this habit, just call this name out on a busy street, and you will see how successful the monastery is. The saints day is the 7. September.

KALLITHEA SPAS:

The complex of buildings at the spa of Kallithea has been designed by the well known Italian architect Pietro Lombardi and was constructed in 1929.Today the complex of the buildings is comprised of three different parts which all of them are connected with and surrounded by gardens and small parks, with stone paved walking paths and resting places, forming an excellent environment in harmony with the natural landscape.

HOTEL DES ROSES:

The Hotel of the Roses («Hotel des Roses»), constructed during the period of the Italian domination within the town of Rhodes, is an impressive building with several interesting architectural features and of great architectural value.today it has been renovated and houses the Casino of Rhodes, while it also operates also as a Hotel.