Christine and Keith's Travels: Maritsa, Rhodes, Monday March 31st

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We woke up later than we had anticipated so perhaps our bodies were still on pre-daylight savings time. We anticipated that the next bus from the village to Rhodes Town was nearly due so we set off to catch it. The man at the kiosk beside the bus stop, not an English speaker, said that the bus would come at one, then in consultation with another man, changed that to 11. It was only ten o’clock so we strolled around the village.

People were very friendly, greeting us and commenting on the weather. We would have been very noticeable in a village with no accommodation for tourists, obviously going nowhere and just out for a walk.

Eventually, at nearly eleven, we returned to the bus stop to wait for the bus, which eventually came at twelve. I spent the time taking photos of many of the people who passed by. Later that evening, when we showed John the day’s photos on the computer screen, he enjoyed seeing his neighbours and was particularly interested in a lady of his vintage who he said took in washing, and who was very good at specialty items. I guess that means embroidered items, lace and fine fabrics but there was no way to check details.

The road to Rhodes passed through neighbouring villages and then suburbs lining a beach front. Corporate groups were battling it out in beach volleyball, soccer and rugby. In the distance, the misty mountains of Turkey gazed out over the pale blue sea. We made a quick trip to the Internet café to ring Frey on Skype for his birthday but it was already nine o’clock in Australia and he was in bed asleep. He turned four, and we are really missing seeing him and his little brother Yonah grow and develop.

A little history - Rhodes is the second largest Greek Island after Crete. The Dorians used it as an important outpost after they arrived in 1100 BC. At that stage there were three autonomous states on the island, based on the cities of Kamiros, Lindos and Ialysos. All went well until Roman times when the island seemed to be incredibly fickle in its allegiances, changing to the winning side whenever possible. Its loyalty would have been worth little, but its prosperity and geographical position must have made others want its support. In 408 BC the three states consolidated in one new city – Rhodes. Having recently fought against Athens in the Peloponnesian wars, it now became an ally of Athens to defeat Sparta. Showing poor judgement, Rhodes then backed Persia against Alexander the Great, but when they saw how things were going, joined Alexander’s team. They were besieged by Demetrius Poliorketes, held out, and to celebrate built the Colossus of Rhodes. It was a 32 m high bronze statue of Helios Apollo, and was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Rhodes was going up and up in influence, power and artistic and intellectual endeavours. Unfortunately, when the Roman generals were fighting for leadership of the Roman Empire, Rhodes backed Julius Caesar who was then assassinated (44 BC). Cassius besieged Rhodes successfully and took its artworks and treasures back to Rome as both booty and retribution.

The history continues to be complex because from this point on Rhodes was a diminished entity and was not really standing and fighting alone. It was being given away as part of treaties. In the split of the Roman Empire, it went to Byzantium – the eastern half of the Empire. The crusaders took Constantinople and made Rhodes independent. The Genoese took over and installed the Knights of St John in 1309. After 213 years the Ottomans invaded and ruled for nearly four centuries. The Italians occupied Rhodes from 1912 until after the second world war, when it became part of Greece, along with the other Dodecanese islands.

The old town at Rhodes is so interesting and also visually very appealing. There are stone walls that are intact and in good condition, with turrets surrounding a second, similar wall. Between is the dry moat which allows for a second line of defence if enemies penetrate the outer wall. They are, in effect, trapped, with nowhere to go to avoid catapult balls, boiling oil and firing. Entering through an arched tunnel, we came to lower walls and a gateway. The roads are tiny cobblestones. The stones are egg shaped but lie on their sides so that only a small surface is upwards. Millions of stones are needed for even a short distance. Some areas have been placed in the local form of black and white mosaic. When cobblestones are wet, as they were on the night of our arrival, they are incredibly slippery.

We had two fairly vague maps so we decided just to amble along and see what we found. The whole old town is World Heritage listed and, although it is home to thousands of residents, it is a museum. Every step reveals beautiful vistas, interesting architecture and often inscriptions and carvings in the stone; usually coats of arms for the various groups of the Knights of St John. The town was divided into three major sectors – the Knights’ sector where the knights had their lodgings, the Hora (or Turkish sector) which was the commercial centre and the Jewish sector. Today residents live in the Hora and the Jewish sector, with the Knight’s sector being used as offices and consular buildings. The Hora is now very oriented to tourists.

Walking down the Avenue of the Knights, we passed the fairly grim and business like facades of the Inns of the different language groups that comprised the Order of St John. They were England, France, Germany, Italy, Aragon, Auvergne and Provence. Each group was ruled by a bailiff under the auspices of the Grand Master, and was responsible for the defence of a different part of the bastion. The buildings were austere but were relieved by arched sections which I imagine could once have been set up taverna style. The inns were used for entertaining dignitaries or for relaxing with a knight’s own language group.

Churches in the old town were converted to mosques under the Ottomans, and there was an interesting one which still had a dome on top, but a Virgin Mary statue reinstated by the Italians on the front. The Italians did massive restoration work in both the old and new towns. In particular they restored the old Grand Master’s Palace for Mussolini to use, but he never went there. They also built many Italianesque buildings in the new town which give the place a gracious air.

We enjoyed rambling around the old town, coming upon the Square of Martyrs, where a memorial commemorates the thousands of people who died in concentration camps during WW2, a fountain with Ottoman influenced designs, the Turkish bath, which is still operating commercially today, and the mosques and churches. Some alley ways are only as wide as a lounge chair. Gunpowder, stored in the belfry of an old church, had exploded and destroyed the building. Someone made a big error with that one! A school was subsequently built on the site, but now excavations have revealed the foundations of the old church.

On the way to the bus we bought some ingredients to make a tea for John and us but when we arrived, John already had everything under control. I went off for a shower and Keith read, since our chef did not want any assistance. John enjoyed the photos of our day’s outing and was very disappointed to hear that we were leaving for Turkey the next day. We had wanted to stay a bit longer but the ferry schedule and our next plans didn’t allow it. Dear John invited us to come back to visit next year and to stay three months. It is amazing how affection and respect can grow in a short time. His health would not allow him to travel. We all agreed that Maritsa is a beautiful village and area.