Acropolis in Lindos on Rhodes Island
If you want to look at the architecture of ancient Greece, then the Acropolis of the city of Lindos on the island of Rhodes is a great choice. It is difficult to recall a more suitable place, only the Acropolis in Athens may be more interesting.
Acropolis – what it is
Not all tourists know what exactly Acropolis is. There is nothing terrible in this, after all, you are going to the Rhodes Island for the sake of rest, and not in the archaeological expedition.
Acropolis is part of an ancient Greek city located on a hill and fortified. It can be said that this is the last line of defense of the settlements of ancient Greeks.
The most important structures were located in the Acropolis: Temples of the City Patron Gods, Theaters and other religious facilities. Also, there were storage facilities and water in case of siege.
In the photo on the right you see the Acropolis of Lindos. He has repeatedly saved the inhabitants of the city from enemies. In various epochs, he was defended by the Greeks, Byzantines, Knights Order of Hospitallers and Turks. Whoever owned Rhodes Island, everyone used this place for defense.
In this method of building settlements there is nothing unique, in the Arab cities such a place is called "Medina", and in Russian cities it is called "Kremlin". A feature of Greek Acropolis is their mandatory location on the hills and small size of the area inside.
History of the city of Lindos and its acropolis
Judging by the found artifacts, the city of Lindos was founded about 10th century to our era. The founder is one of the Greek kings from the tribes of the Dorians named Tleptolemus. On the other hand, the city of Lindos is mentioned in the ancient poem "Iliad" as one of the participants in the Trojan war in the Greeks (Ahetsev). Recall that the Trojan War took place around 13-12th century to.NS., that is 200-300 years earlier.
The goddess of Athena was the patroness of Lindos and the cult facilities at the top dedicated to her. Acropolis was rebuilt several times, archaeologists found that the temple of Athens was expanded three times.
Lindos was a powerful city rich in trade. His navigators appeared in all ports of the Mediterranean. The city was able to preserve independence in the war with the Persians and at the campaign of Alexander the Great, but soon became part of the Roman Empire.
It was under the dominion of Rome that there was a transition of the whole Mediterranean to Christianity, and the Acropolis of Lindos has changed much. The temples of the ancient gods were converted to Christian churches.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Lindos got into the Byzantine Empire. At this time, the city began to lose its importance and turned simply into the fortress used by the Byzantines, then Knights-Hospitalies, and then Turks.
How to prepare for excursions
The first thing to prepare for visiting the Acropolis of Lindos is a headdress. This is the most important thing as the top you will find a large open space where there are no stores or canopies. There just nowhere to hide from the sun. Take a headdress necessarily, and preferably a hat, not a baseball cap.
We recommend dressing comfortable shoes. The hill is located at a height of about 100 meters, and it will have to go on foot.
Take with you water, as we also did not find shops. Go down the water down, and then run on the hill again you obviously do not want.
If you get styled all this in advance, you can calmly look at the top all the most interesting and enjoy beautiful views of the bay (in the photo on the right) without any discomfort.
What to look in the Acropolis of Lindos
There are some interesting buildings at the top.
Amphitheater
The first is an antique Greek Theater. It has a classic semicircular shape for Greece, you can recall such a structure in Jeropolis (modern Pamukkale) or in Likia (modern city of the world) in Turkey. He is not very big and accompanied only 1800 spectators.
There were not only submissions, but also speaking speakers, debates and discussed important political issues.
The first three rows were given to the richest and most significant citizens. These ranks were separated by the fence from the rest. This was followed by another 16 rows and then diazom (so called the passage between rows in the amphitheater), and after another 7 more orders for commoners.
Unfortunately, there are little from the amphitheater of Lindos. All that preserved, you can see on the photo on the left. Click on photo to enlarge.
The feature of this theater was that he was not a structure in general. He was completely cut down in a rock, and not built. Thanks to this, we now have an idea of its configuration. For example, in the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy from the local theater survived even less.
Temple of Athena Lindia
For the ancient residents of Lindos, it was the most important religious structure in the Acropolis. The goddess of Athena was the patroness of the city.
The temple itself is not very large, about 24 meters deep and 9 meters wide in width. You can see it in the photo on the right. Click on photo to enlarge.
About when he was first built here, disputes are being conducted. Judging by archaeological findings, this is the third version. The first temple of Athens was laid at the base of the city in the 10th century, then he was rebuilt in the 6th century and then the building that you see in the photo dates back to the 4th century.
The building is quite well preserved. This is an excellent sample of the architecture of the ancient Greece of the classic period.
In this temple, the goddess of Athena himself performed Alexander Great (Macedonian) himself during his campaign against Persia.
Residents of Lindos sacred believed to help Athens. In 490 BC.NS. Persian king Darius I arranged a campaign against Greece. Forces commanded the most talented Persian commander named Datis. He led Lindos for a long time, when the inhabitants end the supplies.
Gorozov, accumulated in the Acropolis, ended the water, and the Persians knew about it. Datis offered to surrender to the city, but they answered that Athena will help them.
The next day it rained, and the water reserves were replenished. Datis was disappointed and left, leaving the island of Rhodes unoccupied.
The further fate of this commander was sad. He accepted the command of the troops in the famous battle in the marathon. Persians lost and this battle, and Datis him died on the battlefield.
Bas-relief of an ancient ship
This is a unique part of the sights, since the bas-reliefs are not so often found in ancient Greek art, and such an image of the ship exists in a single copy and is located in the Acropolis of Lindos.
This ship in many sources is called "Trier". It’s hard to say so this or not. Trill is an ancient gallery with three rows of cheerful, burra – with two rows, and Urema – just one.
The oars on this bas-relief are not present at all, and determine the type of ship is difficult. You can click on the photo on the right to view an enlarged image, and make sure yourself.
This is a monument to the sea power of Lindos and the island of Rhodes. Rhodes always possessed a large trading fleet and a richer on maritime trade.
In many sources they write that this is a warship, but during the time of ancient Greece the difference between them was not so strong. The type of vessel could be determined on the nose (on the nose of the military ships of that time was a ram), but the front part was not preserved clearly. The ship’s purpose also remains unclear.
Bas-relief dates back to the second century BC. Unfortunately, it is not fully preserved. After all, this is the work of the Pithocrat of the Rhodes, a very famous antique sculptor. He is attributed to the authorship of the sculpture "Nika Samofarakaya", although it is not fully proven. For those who do not remember this famous sculpture, the photo on the right (click to enlarge).
Large portico and cutlery
This is a long series of columns in the form of the letter "P". In total, when built in the 3rd century BC, she numbered 42 columns.
It was built right in front of a large staircase. Of course, in ancient times it was a very beautiful sight, but now it is worth admiring this example of ancient Greek architecture.
Only 26 columns was in the central part of the portica, and on 8 on each side. The total length of this facility is 87 meters long. It did not carry any sacred function, but was a purely decorative detail of the architectural ensemble.
All this place (in the photo on the left) is called "Propileia". So called in ancient Greece the main passage to the temples. There was a real entrance with five doors. As he looked earlier, it is difficult to say, since nothing remains from the input, except for the foundation.
In addition, the ruins of the temple of the Roman Empire period dedicated to the Emperor Diocletian and the former small residence of the head of the Hospitallers.
Input price: 6 EUR
Opening hours: in summer from 8-00 to 18-00. In winter from 8-00 to 15-00.
How to get there: if you stopped at the resort of Lindos, then you can get on foot. In other cases, you can come with an excursion from your tour operator. By car you reach the town of Lindos, Acropolis on a hill can be seen from everywhere.
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