History of Rhodes:
The island was inhabited in the Neolithic
period, although little remains of this
culture. The three important cities of
Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros, which
together with Kos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus
made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis.
In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be
born of the union of Helios the sun god and
the nymph Rhode, and the cities were named
for their three sons.
In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end
when the island was subjugated by forces of
the Knights Hospitaller. Under the rule of
the newly named "Knights of Rhodes", the
city was rebuilt into a model of the
European medieval ideal. |
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Many of the city's famous monuments,
including the Palace of the Grand Master,
were built during this period.
Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman
the Magnificent in December 1522. The few
remaining Knights were permitted to retire
to the Kingdom of Sicily. The Knights would
later move their base of operations to Malta
The island was thereafter a possession of
the Ottoman Empire for nearly four
centuries. In 1912, Rhodes was seized from
the Turks by the Italians, and in 1948,
together with the other islands of the
Dodecanese, was united with Greece. |
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