By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises
Through its location and its history, Rhodes has faced in many directions.
Rhodes has looked east and north to Turkey in the eastern Aegean Sea 11 miles away, looked north toward Asia Minor, south toward Egypt, southeast to Jerusalem, and west toward Europe and the mainland of Greece.
But for many, Rhodes’ moment in time came when people came to look up at the great statue in its harbor.
The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected in Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC.
When it was completed, it stood about 107 feet high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world.
The defenders of Rhodes had successfully defended their island against an assault by 40,000 men under command of Demetrius in 305 BC.
The land campaign failed because of the walls of the city, and then he tried to use massive siege towers mounted on ships to breach the walls.
But the defenders of Rhodes flooded the land in front of the walls so that the rolling tower could not move.
Demetrius’s army abandoned the siege, leaving most of their siege equipment.
The Rhodians sold the equipment left behind for a great deal of money, by some estimates the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars today.
The money was used to build a colossal statue of their patron god, Helios.
Today, the Colossus can be seen: on refrigerator magnets, rugs, etchings, and in the mind’s eye of tourists.
A RHODES ALBUM
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