Greece - Pt 4

We flew from Santorini to Rhodes, a much more historic place than the previous islands we visited. A city was first built here in 408 BC, and when the Knights of St John arrived in 1309 AD, they built their citadel over these ancient remains. The Knights' medieval citadel forms the centre of the Old Town, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 The basic history of the Knights of St John: They were formed to aid pilgrims arriving in the Holy Land - initially they operated a hospital in Jerusalem. At the start of the First Crusade in 1099, they became a military order. When the Crusaders lost the Holy Land, the Knights conquered Rhodes in 1309, so as to continue the conflict with the Muslims. They fought off Muslim sieges in 1444 and 1480, but surrendered the island after an epic siege in 1522 and moved to Malta. They were victorious in another epic siege by the Muslims in 1565. This marked the end of the Muslim advance west in the Mediterranean. The Knights of St John eventually transformed into the St John's Ambulance in modern times.

The Old Town walls, dating from 1330, are 4km long and up to 12m thick. There are 11 gates into the city. Below is a pic of part of the walls and of Gail at the Amboise Gate (or Grand Masters Gate).

The Palace of the Grand Master is a fortress within a fortress and dominates the medieval citadel. It was the nerve centre of the Knights' administration on the island, and the last refuge for the population in times of danger. See pics below of the Palace exterior and some of its towers.

The Palace is build around a marble tiled courtyard. Its rooms have some priceless mosiacs from sites on the island of Kos, and houses exhibitions about ancient and medieval Rhodes. The pics below show a Hellenistic mosiac of the mythical Medusa, and the Chamber with Colonnades.

One of the town's most famous sites is the medieval Street of the Knights, which goes from the Palace of the Grand Masters down to the harbour. It is lined with the Inns of the Tongues (or nationalities) of the Order of St John, each with its coat of arms set in the wall. The Knights would muster in this street in times of attack. See pic of Don in this street and the coat of arms of the Inn of France.

The squares and streets of the Old Town are lined with restaurants and shops selling leather goods, linens and other souvenirs. See pic of Gail at the medieval fountain on Hippocrates Square, and a street of shops.

The Marine Gate with its twin towers is the main entrance into the Old Town from the harbour, which these days is full of boats and usually a large cruise ship or two.

In ancient times, Rhodes was famous for having one of the Seven Wonders of the World at its harbour - the Colossus of Rhodes (a huge statue of Helios the sun god).

We took a bus south to Lindos for a day. It is a popular tourist destination, with its little white houses, Crusader castle and acropolis dramatically overlooking the sea. The narrow cobbled streets of Lindos village are full of tavernas, restaurants and shops selling ceramics, linen and lacework and other souvenirs. The pics below show a linen shop, ceramics and the restaurant where we had lunch.

Walking along the winding lanes, you see the traditional Lindian doorways, like these examples below.

The acropolis at Lindos is perched 125m above the village. On it are the ruins of the 4th century BC Temple of Lindian Athena, one of the most sacred sites in the ancient world. In the 13th century AD, the Knights of St John built battlements much higher than the original walls. The pics below are a view of the acropolis and Gail among the ancient ruins.

On the way up to the acropolis, you get a great view over the roof tops of the village and also of lovely Lindos Bay.

Also on the path up to the acropolis are a number of women selling the lace for which Lindos is renowned. Their lovely tablecloths etc are laid out on the rocks and dirt, as in the pic below.

Traffic is banned in the village and donkeys carry people up to the acropolis. We decided to walk instead.

St Paul's Bay at Lindos is where the apostle landed in AD 43, bringing Christianity to Rhodes. It is an almost enclosed cove with azure waters and a white chapel dedicated to St Paul.

Next update will start on Ireland.

Greece - Pt 3

We took the high speed ferry from Mykonos to Santorini, but it was not the romantic relaxing experience we expected. It would have been easier to fly.

Santorini is a stunning island, with its white villages clinging to volcanic cliffs above blank sand beaches. It got its crescent shape when the volcanic island erupted in 1450BC. This eruption caused a tsunami thought to be 500m high, which devastated the eastern Mediterranean, including wiping out the Minoan civilization on nearby Crete. The crescent shape can be seen in the present shape of the caldera - pic below.

We stayed in a romantic suite in the Athermi Apartments. We had problems getting to our hotel and it was not in the main town of Fira as we expected, but 15 min south. We hired a car to get around. The view from our suite was amazing - straight out over the caldera.

Santorini has many wineries and grape vines are everywhere. We visited the Koutsoyannopoulous Winery, established in 1870, the oldest self-planted vineyard in the world. It has an interesting underground wine museum, which tells the story of the everyday lives of Santorini winegrowing families over the last 300 years.

We visited Kamari Beach on the east coast. It has a shopping street which runs along the beach, not unlike Noosa's Hastings Street. The beach with its black sand can't compare with our beautiful AU beaches. See pics below of the shopping street and beach.

Santorini has many white blue-domed churches, like this one near our hotel.

We looked for the famous sunsets of Santorini, but they did not appear in their reputed glory. This pic is the best on offer when we were there, taken from our hotel.

Fira (or Thera), overlooking the calera, is the island's capital. Devastated by an earthquake in 1956, it has been rebuilt, terraced into the volcanic cliffs, with domed churches and barrel-roofed cave houses. The terraces are packed with hotels, bars and restaurants.

This pic shows the scale of the cliffs and the perched township.

Souvenir shops and boutiques line the winding cobbled alleys that run along the top of the caldera.

There are many churches, particularly little white ones with blue domes. We also visited the large Orthodox Cathedral. Example pics are below.

At the northern tip of the island is the beautiful town of Oia, which is designated a traditional settlement, having being reconstructed after the earthquake. It has hotels built in traditional style into the cliff face.

Again there are many churches with blue domes and bells. Don thinks the uniform blue and white everywhere is overdone.

There are many shops where tourists can contribute to the local economy.

Oia's white and pastel coloured houses cling to the cliff face, as seen in these pics.

Next blog update will be Rhodes.

Greece - Pt 2

From Athens we flew to Mykonos in the Greek Islands. Our hotel was on a hill with a beautiful view of Mykonos town and harbour.

Mykonos town is the supreme example of a village in the Cyclades group of islands - a tangle of dazzling white alleys and cube shaped house with coloured shutters and doors. There are many tiny churches and tavernas, boutiques and souvenir shops along the narrow cobbled streets.

The most photographed church on the island is the unusual Panagia Paraportiani. It is made up of four chapels at ground level with another above.

Windmills are icons on Mykonos, but not used for anything productive today, except attracting tourists.

The Little Venice area is the artists quarter. It has tall houses with tall balconies jutting out over the sea.

Mykonos is famous for its beaches (including several nude ones). We took a 10 minute bus ride to Platys Gialos, the main family beach on the island. It is lined with hotels and restaurants. We had pork souvlaki in one place, and that entitled us to relax on their deck chairs under an umbrella for the rest of the day. See pics below of the beach, lunch in the cafe and Don relaxing (he is good at that).

The Old Port has luxury yachts moored alongside fishing boats. See pic below.

See below night pics of the port area and shops.

We ate at Nikos in the Old Port area, on a corner where the action happens at night.

While in the area we saw the island's mascot, Petros the Pelican. He walks around unfazed by his fame and the pics with tourists.

Next update will be Santorini, also in Greek Islands.