Art Sunday; Ancient Art from RhodesThis is late.............almost not Sunday any more.... and its different....
but I hope you like it.
I’ve already said I’m in the process of sorting out literally hundreds of photographs taken during my holiday to Rhodes in 2004. I really should have done this before, now that I look at them, and try to make sense of them, I find I’m not always sure which artifact was found at which place. I thought I’d share a few more of these photos today because it really was a wonderful holiday, and there is so much art and history there it’s hard to take it all in. Rhodes is unique, all Greek Islands are special but this one is extra special. Rhodes has been inhabited from the Neolithic period and during the years between then and now, has been conquered and governed by just about every major civilization the world has ever known. It has been at the center of so many civilizations and all of these great civilizations have left their mark on this small Island.
This very brief version of the history of Rhodes shows why its such an exciting island and why there is still so much to see there.
1. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although little remains of this culture.
2. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes.
3. In the 15th century BC, Mycenaean Greeks invaded.
4. In the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form,
5. The Persians invaded and overran the island, but were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC.
6. In 357 BC, the island was conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria,
7. It fell to the Persians in 340 BC.
8. Rhodes became a part of the growing empire of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.
9. In 164 BC, Rhodes signed a treaty with Rome. It became an educational center for Roman noble families, and was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric,
10. In the 1st century AD, the Emperor Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes.
11. Saint Paul brought Christianity to people on the island.
Rhodes reached her zenith in the 3rd century.
12. In 395, the long Byzantine Empire-period began for Rhodes, when the eastern half of the Roman empire became gradually more Greek.
13. Rhodes was occupied by the Muslim forces of Muawiyah I in 672.
14. In circa 1090, it was occupied by the Muslim forces of the Seljuk Turks,
15. Rhodes was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus during the First Crusade.in 1309,
16. The Byzantine era came to an end when the island was occupied by forces of the Knights Hospitaller.
17. The strong walls which the Knights had built withstood the attacks of the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, and of Mehmed II in 1480.
18. Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522, long after the rest of the Byzantine empire had been lost
19. The island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews. Under the Ottoman Empire rule, they generally did fairly well, but discrimination and bigotry occasionally arose
20. In February 1840, the Jews of Rhodes were falsely accused of ritually murdering a Christian boy.
21. In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Turks.
22. Following the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides.
23. This was anticipated by the German Army, which succeeded in occupying the island.
24. On 19 July 1944, the Gestapo rounded up the island's nearly 2,000 Jewish inhabitants to send them to extermination camps.
About 160 of the island's more than 600 Greek Jews survived.
25. In 1947, together with the other islands of the Dodecanese, Rhodes was united with Greece.
26. In 1949, Rhodes was the venue for negotiations between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, concluding with the 1949 Armistice Agreements.
If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it. All of these museums and artifacts are found within the walls of the ancient walled city of Rhodes.
The Palace of Grand Masters in Rhodes: The Palace of Grand Masters is ideally located at the end of the Street of the Knights. It is conspicuous by its spherical towers as well as a gate with a sharp arch.
The Palace of Grand Masters is a citadel which was built by the Knights of St John in the 14th century. The palace boasts of numerous grandiose rooms with antique furniture, exquisite polychrome marbles, sculptures, carpets and fine Oriental vases.
Museum of Decorative Arts, which contains finely made objects and crafts from Rhodes and other islands, most notably Simi.
The Museum of the Decorative Arts is to be found within a building that once served as the Knight's arsenal and is home to an extensive array of artifacts and treasures.
These include many old and hard-carved wooden vessels, along with pottery, folk costumes and some very well-preserved embroideries, from the 17th century onwards.
Muslim Library
Founded towards the end of the 18th century.
The library itself was created at the request of Ahmed Hasuf, a local Rhodian originating from Turkey. 
Inside the library there are a large collection of both Arabic and Persian scripts, along with some historic handwritten Korans.
The building itself is beautifully preserved has a pattern of gold stars across the ceiling.
Archaeological Museum
The inner courtyard of the Archaeological Museum is surrounded by a colonnade, which spans two floors.
Mandraki harbor was the main as and military harbor of ancient Rhodes for almost 2,500 years,and its mouth could be shut off by chains. Now the mouth of the harbour has statues of a male and female deer ( Elafos and Elafina) symbols of the island - which stand on columns. It is believed that the Colossus of Rhodes stood here. The deer is supposed to occupy the very spot where the foot of the great colossus once stood.
