Question 1

Crusaders, Ottomans, and the Colossus

Accepted Answer

The Knights of St. John ruled Rhodes from the early 1300s until 1522, when Suleiman the Magnificent took the city after a six-month siege. The island's three ancient cities united in 408 BC and built the city of Rhodes at its northern tip. The Colossus, a statue of the sun god Helios about 33 meters tall, went up in 280 BC and fell in an earthquake in 226 BC. The image of it standing astride the harbor mouth is a medieval invention. The Knights turned back sieges by the Sultan of Egypt in 1444 and by Mehmed II in 1480 before their defeat in 1522. Italy occupied Rhodes in 1912 and laid out a new town along the Mandraki seafront. The island joined Greece in 1947. After Germany took control of the island in 1943, more than 1,550 of its 1,700 remaining Jews were deported and murdered.

Question 2

Getting Around Rhodes

Accepted Answer

The medieval city is seen on foot, and the rest of the island needs a bus, a taxi or a tour. Lindos is about 40 km south of Rhodes town on the east coast, and Faliraki about 14 km south. KTEL buses run down the east coast from Rhodes town through Faliraki, Afantou, Kolymbia and Archangelos to Lindos. Check the timetable for the last bus back before you go. Ferries leave the Tourist Port for Marmaris and other Turkish ports in summer, so the terminal can be busy with passengers who are not from your ship.

Question 3

Tipping in Rhodes

Accepted Answer

A common guide across Europe is to round up a taxi fare and leave 5 to 10 percent in a restaurant when service is not included. Greece uses the euro. Check the bill for a service charge before you add anything. Carry some coins and small notes for buses, kiosks and small purchases.

Question 4

Where to Eat

Accepted Answer

Local dishes pair goat with pulses: lakani is goat cooked with chickpeas, and lopia is beans with goat. Pitaroudia and matsi, a handmade pasta, are two more local names to look for on a menu. Souma is a clear spirit distilled from grapes, and koriantolino is the island's other traditional drink. Synoro is a traditional local cheese.

Question 5

Culture & Local Life

Accepted Answer

The Street of the Knights, in the upper town, is lined with the inns of the order's national "tongues," among them Italy, France, Spain and Provence. The Palace of the Grand Master began as a 7th-century Byzantine citadel. An explosion wrecked it in 1856, and the building you see is an Italian reconstruction of 1937 to 1940. It is now a museum. The Archaeological Museum occupies the Knights' hospital, built between 1440 and 1489. The lower town holds the mosques and baths of nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule, among them the Mosque of Suleiman. Kahal Shalom, completed in 1577 in the old Jewish quarter, is the oldest synagogue in Greece and houses the Jewish Museum of Rhodes. At Lindos, a temple of Athena from about 300 BC stands on the acropolis inside a fortress the Knights built around it in the 14th century.

Question 6

Shopping & Local Markets

Accepted Answer

The medieval city has a busy market of its own, and the market hall the Italians built stands on the Mandraki seafront. Thyme honey, figs and local wine are the island products to bring home. If you buy souma or another spirit, check your ship's rules on bringing alcohol aboard. The Tourist Port's duty-free shop is the last stop before the ship.

Question 7

Traveling with Family

Accepted Answer

The Aquarium of Rhodes, in an Art Deco building of the 1930s, is laid out as an underwater cave with tanks on both sides. The aquarium's museum displays cover the sea life of the Dodecanese, from octopuses and corals to sea turtles and sharks. In the Valley of the Butterflies, thousands of Jersey tiger moths gather from late May through the summer. Keep children quiet there: the moths weaken when they are disturbed into flight. The medieval walls come with a moat, towers and gates, which gives children something to explore between museums.

Question 8

Beaches

Accepted Answer

Faliraki, about 14 km south of Rhodes town, has a 5 km stretch of sand. The southern end of Faliraki Beach is an official naturist beach, which is worth knowing before you walk that way with children. Lindos sits on a large bay and is known for its beaches. St. Paul's Bay is close by. Prasonisi, at the southern tip, is 92 km from Rhodes town and too far for most port days.

Question 9

Accessibility

Accepted Answer

Ask your ship whether it will be alongside a quay or at the anchorage, because an anchorage day means boarding a tender. Ask at the Tourist Port's information desk about step-free routes into the Old Town. The medieval city is in two parts, a high town and a lower town, so expect slopes between them. The Lindos acropolis is reached by a long staircase. Ask your ship or tour operator about access before you book. Ask your tour operator or taxi driver in advance whether the vehicle can carry a wheelchair.

Rhodes, Greece

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know