An interesting island history
History
Rhodes was already settled in the Bronze Age. The first inhabitants to leave their mark on the island were the Carians, who probably immigrated from Asia Minor.
Around 2000 BC Chr. they got company from the Phoenicians, around 1700 BC. The Minoans followed from Crete and from 1450 B.C. BC Rhodes was influenced by the Mycenaean culture.
Around 1200 BC Chr. The Dorians reached Rhodes and founded the cities of Lindos, Ialyssos and Kamiros.
In the 8th century B.C. Chr. the towns of Rhodes had already achieved some prosperity. They allied themselves with Kos, Halicarnossos and Cnidos to form the defensive alliance Hexapolis, which soon broke up again.
In the 7th century the Rhodian cities had established trade relations throughout the Mediterranean and even founded colonies in Sicily and Asia Minor.
Around 550 BC Chr. The island's first large Athena temple was built near Lindos. The tyrant Kleoboulos of Lindos, who ruled the city during these years, is particularly well known. Rhodes was Persian at the time (500 BC) and was fighting Athens. The Athenians succeeded and pushed back the Persians.
408 BC Chr. a new capital was founded in the north of the island. The city was planned by Hippodamos of Miletus, a famous contemporary. Rhodes Town stretched from Monte Smith to the port and what is now the new town. Due to its favorable location, the city soon became a rich trading hub. King Mausolus of Halicarnassus also wanted to share in this wealth, but could not stay on Rhodes for long.
In the 4th century B.C. Chr. the Rhodians noticed that the Macedonian Empire had expanded rapidly under Philip II and allied themselves in 334 BC. with his son Alexander the Great. For this, Rhodes Town was rewarded with a trade monopoly. In the time of Alexander, the city developed good trade relations with Egypt. The city was booming. The Rhodians put part of their money into their city fortifications - a sensible undertaking, as it soon turned out.
305 BC Chr. Alexander's empire collapsed, Demetrios came and unsuccessfully besieged the city of Rhodes. During this time the Colossus of Rhodes was built by the well-known sculptor Chares from Lindos.
42 BC Chr. The troops of Cassius (one of Caesar's assassins) conquered Rhodes and brought everything that was not nailed down and of value to Rome - the decline began.
155 n. Chr. An earthquake destroyed large parts of the city, and in the following centuries the Rhodians often had unpleasant and uninvited visitors: the Goths, the Persians, the Saracens - and all plundered heavily.
313 n. Chr. Christianity was recognized as a permitted religion by the Roman Emperor Constantine, and as early as 325 AD almost all of Greece was Christianized.
1054 there was a separation between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Church, to which the Greeks belong to this day.
In the 10th century Rhodes was a poor island that officially belonged to the Byzantine Empire until 1309. But de facto ruled the island in the 11th and 12th centuries, among others, the Venetians and the Genoese.
1306 the Hospitallers settled on Rhodes and the island regained prosperity under their rule. The fortress of the Hospitallers can still be admired in the old town of Rhodes. As the Byzantine Empire disintegrated, the burgeoning Ottoman Empire took control of the eastern Mediterranean. Like the Hospitallers, the Ottomans also engaged in lively building activity and erected numerous mosques.
late 18th century The conflict between rulers and ruled intensified, which eventually led to armed conflicts. The Greek War of Independence lasted from 1821 to 1829.
1830 Greece became a sovereign kingdom, but Rhodes was not part of it at the time and remained with the Ottoman Empire.
1912 the islands of the Dodecanese were awarded to Italy. Italy pumped a lot of money into the islands, expanded the infrastructure and opened up Rhodes to tourism. The Italians changed a lot, erected imposing buildings, built streets and squares. But they also rehabilitated the old town, the Kallithea thermal baths, the monastery of Filerimos and the basin of Eleousa.
1943 German troops landed on the Dodecanese Islands, they capitulated in the winter of 1945. Then the English came and gave the Dodecanese Islands to Greece in 1948.
The Johanniter on Rhodes
In 1306 the Johanniter moved into Rhodes. The Rhodians resisted the new masters, but it only took the battle-hardened knights three years to control the entire island. After that, they built a safe fortress. They benefited from the fact that they inherited the Knights Templar in 1312. So they had enough money to build the fortress and were able to buy neighboring islands without a fight. However, even the Johanniter could not prevent Islam from advancing further west. The Byzantine Empire broke up piece by piece, and the Ottomans continued to expand Islam. However, they failed in 1480 when attempting to take Rhodes. On the other hand, they were quite successful elsewhere, and their stocks of soldiers, combat equipment and money grew steadily.
Suleyman the Magnificent ascended the throne in 1520 and had Rhodes attacked again in 1522. The Ottomans advanced with an army of around 150.000 men, while 5.600 knights and mercenaries tried to defend their city in the fortress. After more than six months, the knights ran out of ammunition and no outside supplies were in sight. Grandmaster de I'lsle Adam had to give in. He negotiated safe conduct for the 4.200 surviving fighters, with whom he withdrew to Malta. There, too, the knights, who later called themselves Maltese, built a fortress. The order still exists today, but its leaders are in exile in the Vatican.
Half of the Ottoman soldiers were killed in the Battle of Rhodes, but it brought the Sultan the breakthrough in the Aegean Sea, where the Ottomans ruled until the 19th century.
