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General Information

The island of Rhodes covers an area of 1398 square kilometres, the fourth largest island of Greece and the largest of the Dodecanese. It lies on a northeast-southwest axis in the southeastern Aegean Sea approximately 16km (10 miles) from the Turkish Coast. On a clear day one can recognise the Turkish coast. About 115,000 people live in what is Rhodes town, the linchpin of the island. The coast line extends for 220km. From the north up to the south is about 90km and the largest breadth is 37km. The highest elevations in Rhodes are the Attaviros (1215m), the Akramitis or Gramithi in the north west (823m).

Approximately 18 per cent of the total area of the island is used for farming, such as fruit and wine cultivation. Thirty eight per cent of the area is still used for livestock breeding as pastureland. Furthermore the bee-keeping, fishing and tobacco cultivation forms another activity area. However tourism forms the main source of income of the island, landing approximately a million foreign holiday-makers at the Airport Diagoras of Rhodes every year to spend the most beautiful days of the year there.

Rhodes town is without a doubt one of Europe's best preserved medieval fortress towns. The town divides neatly into new and old quarters. From the old buildings and narrow streets within the town walls to the coming and going of yachts in Mandraki Harbor. The impressive old town with its labyrinth of lanes, to the new town with its numerous boutiques and office buildings. Rhodes town offers something for everyone all year round. The old town and harbor are extremely photogenic.

Start with a sightseeing walk from Liberty Gate. Just inside at Platia Simis are the remains of a temple of Aphrodite dating from the 3rd century BC. Opposite the temple, the Museum of Modern Greek Art, houses a collection of 20th century engraving and sculpture, as well as old maps and prints. Many of the Knights' buildings are clustered near Platia Eleftherias and the adjacent square. The walls and the gates to the old town are a magnificent legacy of the Knight Hospitallers of St. John who bought the island in AD 1306 and took possession in AD 1309. In the summer months the front of the Old Hospital of the Knights is ablaze with a tropical climbing plant of purple and red flowers.

A visit between March and May is well worthwhile for its vegetation alone. Rhodes is rich in plant habitats. Sandy soils within a few meters of the sea shore are colored by yellow horned poppies, purple sea stock, scarlet poppies and white sea lilies. Elsewhere you will find rocky fields contained within stone walls making a haven of color with white chamomile, yellow crown daisies and purple catch flies with splashes of blue anchusa. Not forgetting of course the typical tree species of the Mediterranean which can also be seen on the island. Olive trees grow in abundance as do almond, fig, and lemon and orange trees, as well as midget oak trees with types of cypress and pines whose resin is used for the retsina wine. Taste the Rhodian honey famous in ancient times. Apart from hedgehogs, rabbits, goats, and donkeys that throng the island, there are several species of snake, none of which are dangerous, lizards, such as the "Rhodian Dragon", are also harmless, and tiny green and vocal marsh frogs. You may also spot a praying mantis on a tree branch although they are more easily heard than seen.