EN
The ancient town of Lindos located on the east coast of Rhodes island at a distance of 50 km / 32 miles from the Rhodes Town. A number of 15th century structures within the whitewashed town are declared traditional buildings to be preserved. The climb to the acropolis is rewarded with spectacular views. Daily, tourists and Greeks take excursions to admire this village and its acropolis, and swim at its marvelous beaches. Per Homer, Lindos was built by the Dorians at the identical time as Kameiros and Ialyssos in the 12th century B.C. Rhodes sent nine ships to the Trojan War and most likely all of them came from Lindos. This fact shows that in that period Lindos was the most powerful town in Rhodes. The development of the town was due to its naval power. Its two harbors as well as its impregnable acropolis were unique on Rhodes.
There is information that Lindos already had colonies by the 7th century and that it monopolized a large part of trade and shipping in the Mediterranean. The Lindians were the primary to draw up a naval code of justice, later called the Rhodian Naval Code. This was to become the basis of Roman naval justice and is even to be found at core of contemporary law. The Lindians were also great sculptors. Their bronze statues are famed for their incomparable craft. The famous Colossus of Rhodes was a bronze statue by the Lindian artist Chares. The town reached the peak of its power with in the 6th century B.C. particularly during the reign of Cleobulos who ruled for quite 40 years. Cleobulos is considered one amongst the Seven Sages of antiquity, primarily because he was the first to support the funding of public structures by fund-raising drives among the citizens. The money from these drives was used to build the Temple of Athena in 550 B.C.
The ancient Acropolis 410 feet (160m) above Lindos. On the approach to the top you will come to the CASTLE, a 13th century fortress that is at the doorway of the site. To the left are thirteen remaining columns of the STOA which was built around 200 B.C. and has been restored. The TEMPLE of the LINDIAN ATHENA was once a big religious site originally dating back to 100 BC. The remnants seen today were built by the tyrant Cleobulos within the 6th-century BC and are remarkably well intact, with colonnades flanking each side of the temple.
Excavations on this site in the early 1900’s brought to the surface a variety of items including 5000 years old tools and an inscribed plaque dating back to 99 BC that documented visitors to the temple: HERCULES, HELEN OF TROY and ALEXANDER THE GREAT to name a few.
