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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



from the earliest times to the days when 

 it became a Roman possession ; from the 

 beginning of the Christian era to the es- 

 tablishment of the order of the Knights 

 of St. John on the island ; and, lastly, 

 from the fourteenth century to the pres- 

 ent time. 



What Wisby was to the Baltic in the 

 thirteenth century A. D., Rhodes was to 

 the Mediterranean about 300 B. C. Ow- 

 ing to its favorable location on the great 

 highway between Egypt and Greece, the 

 island early rose to commercial impor- 

 tance. Its first settlers were the Dorians. 

 The people were thrifty and skilled in 

 handiwork, and they soon built up an ex- 

 tensive fleet, which not only enabled them 

 to gain important possessions along the 

 adjacent coast of Caria, on the mainland 

 of Asia Minor, but they were also in a 

 position to become the masters of the 

 eastern Mediterranean as well. There 

 were important schools of philosophy, 

 art, and oratory, the latter having been 

 attended by Cicero and Caesar. 



THE DAYS OF THE KNIGHTS 



With the advent of the Knights of St. 

 John an interesting period began for 

 Rhodes. This order was founded in Je- 

 rusalem in the eleventh century, and 

 after many hardships finally found a 

 home at Rhodes, where it assumed the 

 name of the Knights of Rhodes. The 

 power of the order was also gradually 

 extended over a number of the smaller 

 neighboring islands, as well as the coast 

 of the mainland. Such a prosperous 

 island early attracted the attention of the 

 Turks, and after many wars the Knights 

 were finally forced, in 1522, to retire to 

 Malta. 



From this time until the war with 

 Tripoli, Rhodes was under Turkish rule. 

 In May, 191 2, an Italian fleet landed a 

 force on the island and in a short time 

 compelled the small Turkish garrison to 

 capitulate. At the present time the island 

 is being held by Italy. 



The most interesting things to be seen 

 in Rhodes are the walls and buildings 

 connected with the days when the Knights 

 ruled on the island. The walls, in fact, 

 may be classed among the finest monu- 

 ments of medieval architecture now ex- 



tant ; the towers and bastions are, for the 

 most part, in a state of splendid preserva- 

 tion, and the whole is surrounded by im- 

 mense moats. In many of these moats 

 huge cannon-balls have been piled up as 

 a grim reminder of the fierce sieges which 

 these walls have withstood. 



The so-called Street of Knights re- 

 mains about the same as it was in the 

 fifteenth century. The arms of the va- 

 rious orders are engraved on many of the 

 houses, some of which are occupied by 

 Moslems today, and the windows have 

 been somewhat disfigured by lattice-work 

 which has been placed there in order to 

 conceal the women of the harems. 



THE COLOSSUS DESTROYED 



Every vestige has disappeared of the 

 Colossus of Rhodes, the great bronze 

 statue in honor of the god Helios erected 

 at Lindus in 285 B. C.. This statue 

 stood 112 feet high and was known as 

 one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient 

 world. Many place the ancient site on a 

 narrow strip of land which extends into 

 the sea at the entrance of the harbor — 

 that is, the point which today is sur- 

 mounted by Fort St. Nicolaus — while 

 others claim that it stood well within the 

 harbor. After standing for only 56 years 

 it was hurled down by an earthquake, 

 and after lying about the ground for 

 nearly 900 years the fragments, consist- 

 ing chiefly of bronze, were sold to a Jew 

 at Horns, in Syria. It is claimed that 

 900 camels, in a single train, were em- 

 ployed to bring it to that town, a distance 

 by land of at least 500 miles. 



According to an Italian census of the 

 city of Rhodes taken in 191 3, the popu- 

 lation numbered 13,744; namely, 4,890 

 Moslems, 4,290 Jews, and 3,564 Greeks, 

 making practically an equal division 

 among the three nationalities. The Jews 

 and Moslems are crowded, for the most 

 part, within the walls, while the Greeks 

 are spread around among the little subur- 

 ban villages. 



The Jews form an interesting part of 

 the population, and in many instances are 

 as typical of this race as can be found in 

 any place in the East. While retaining 

 their religion in every respect, they have 

 adopted the manners, habits, and mode 



