Lindos – Rhodes

Lindos is a traditional settlement on the island of Rhodes. It has a rich history, as it was one of the three ancient cities of the island and the one with the richest maritime tradition. It is the birthplace of Cleobulus, one of the seven sages of antiquity; of Charis, the sculptor of the famous Colossus; of Panetius, the philosopher who introduced Stoic philosophy to Rome.

This coastal settlement is located on the southern Aegean Sea and is about 55 km from the city of Rhodes, at Cape Crana on the eastern coast of the island. The picturesque narrow streets, the beautiful beaches, the excellent view of the sea, but especially the acropolis of Lindos, which dominates the settlement, have made Lindos a popular tourist destination. The acropolis, in particular, built in a natural fortification position, has been exploited from the beginning of Lindos’ history and is intertwined, not exclusively with the history of Lindos, but with the history of the whole island. This small area was exploited and left signs of their presence by the ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines and the Knights Hospitallers. Lindos is the hottest area of geographical Europe annually.

According to tradition, the god Helios was the lord of the island  and when he merged with the nymph Rhodes, he gave him her name. The god Helios and Rhodes gave birth to seven sons, the Eliades. A narrative that many associate with Lindos states that, when the Eliades became men, Helios revealed to them that the first to make a sacrifice to the goddess Athena would have her favour forever. Indeed, the Iliads were the first to sacrifice to the goddess, but in their haste they did not burn their victims before offering them on the altars. For this reason, the tradition of the unlit sacrifices to the goddess Athena remained on the island. Later, however, four of the Iliads became fratricides, as they killed Tenages, and when their act became known they were forced to flee to other places. Only the two who did not participate in the murder remained in Rhodes. Nemos, as the eldest, became ruler of the whole island. He was succeeded by his brother, Cercaphus, and him by his three sons, Camiros, Ialyssos and Lindus, who divided the island into three parts, and each built a city in his own name.

Another legend says that when Danaus left Egypt with his daughters, he sailed to Lindos, where he was warmly received by the inhabitants. It was he who built the sanctuary of Athena of Lindia and dedicated a statue to the goddess before sailing for Argos. The view was also honoured by Cadmus who, in search of his sister, Europa, had to stop on the island due to bad weather.

This is what the myths say about the building of the settlement and the sanctuary of Athena. Archaeological investigations in the wider area of Lindos have revealed findings from the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age and the Mycenaean period. According to experts, Lindos was built after the 11th century BC, when the island was colonised by the Dorians. During the Archaic period, Lindos, together with the other two cities of Rhodes, Kamiro and Ialyssos, as well as the city of Kos and the cities of Knidos and Halicarnassus, formed the so-called Doric Exapolis, which had as its religious centre the temple of Triopio Apollo on the peninsula of Knidos. [

In the following centuries the Lydians, either alone or in collaboration with other Rhodians or other Greeks, were very active in founding colonies: the Rhodes in distant Iberia and in Italy; Parthenope  and, together with the Copts, the Elpias in Dynia . Soloi in Cilicia were built by Lydians and Achaeans . Lydians also built Phaselis in Lycia , and around 688 BC. Lydians together with Cretan colonists built Gela in Sicily . According to the Chronicle of Lindus, the Lindians took part in the colonization of Cyrene and Syvari . Diodorus of Sicily says that Lipara was colonized by Cnidians and Rhodians , so was Symi , while Nisyros was colonized by Rhodians after an epidemic wiped out the Cotic colonists [14]. Finally, in about 550 BC Rhodians, along with many other Greeks, built the Nafpratida in Egypt .

Cleobulus’ woodcut in Guillaume Rouillé’s Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum (1553)
In the 6th century BC Cleobulus, one of the seven sages of antiquity, lived and ruled Lindos as a tyrant. In the 5th century, the Lydians minted their first coin. In the Persian Wars, after Mardonius’ unsuccessful campaign in 492 BC, a new campaign was organized under the leadership of Dates and Artaphernes. The Persians, after gathering a large army in Cilicia, launched an invasion by sea. According to the Chronicle of Lindos, the Persians besieged the city of Lindos in 490 BC, but thanks to the miraculous intervention of the goddess Athena, Lindos was saved. After the end of the Persian wars, all three cities of Rhodes joined the Delian Alliance, paying a tribute to the fund for the campaign against the Persians.

The increasing authoritarianism of the Athenians and then the Peloponnesian War, which pitted the Rhodians, as members of the Delian Alliance, against the same-sex (Dorian) Spartans, caused intense internal unrest. Nevertheless, the Rhodians participated in the Sicilian campaign of 415-413 BC with 2 pentacondors and 700 slingers , during which they even had to fight against their own colonists, the Gelians .

In 412 BC, with the contribution of Ialusius Dorias, who was fighting on the side of the Spartans, Lindos, as well as the two other cities of Rhodes, broke away from the Athenian alliance and joined forces with Sparta and its allies.  A few years later, in 408/407 BC.  the citizens of Ialyssos, Kamirou and Lindos carried out the so-called settlement by building the city of Rhodes and uniting their three old states. Since then, Lindos maintained a secondary role, as the capital Rhodes became the centre of the state that determined the fate of the whole island.

Lindos continued to have a degree of formal self-government, as the masters and people of Lindos made decisions on procedural matters, such as the election of priests, priests/priests, etc.  The sanctuary of Athena retained its glory, as is evident from the fact that famous kings chose to honour Lindia Athena with tributes – Alexander the Great, Ptolemy the Saviour, Pyrrhus, Philip V. In the Hellenistic era, during the time of the great prosperity of the Rhodian State, the acropolis of Lindos received special care. After a devastating fire (around 342 BC), the temple was rebuilt in its final form, and impressive porticoes, porticoes and walls were built. It was around the same time that a Lydian sculptor, Lysippus’ pupil Charis, undertook the construction of the famous Colossus, a giant bronze statue dedicated to the patron of Rhodes, the god Sun.

At the end of the heyday of the Rhodian State, the country, although formally autonomous, became dependent on the Roman state. At that time, the philosopher Panagius was born in Lindos, who became a scholar of the Stoics and is considered to have introduced Stoic philosophy to Rome.

Although not many details of the event are described, during his third apostolic tour, the Apostle Paul also passed through Rhodes and preached Christianity. According to tradition, he landed in Lindos, at a place that today bears his name (the bay of St. Paul).

Unlike the other two ancient cities of Rhodes , which declined during the Middle Ages and reached the point of partial or total abandonment, the settlement of Lindos is continuously inhabited. During the Byzantine period, the walls of the acropolis received special attention, as the area was used as a fortress. The importance of the fortress of Lindos is attested by an incident around 1248, when the city of Rhodes was occupied by Genoese. At that time, Emperor John III Duke Vatatzis sent to the island the Duke of Thrace, John Kantakouzenos, who with a small force captured the fortresses of Lindos and Filerimos and used them as a base for attacks against the Genoese.

The position of Lindos is such that it is of strategic importance for the control of the island’s countryside. For this reason, and after the conquest of Rhodes by the Knights Hospitallers, the castle of Lindos received special attention, with the maintenance and expansion of the earlier Byzantine fortifications. In fact, the castle of Lindos was the strongest[note 6] after that of the city of Rhodes .

The fortress of Lindos was also used during the Turkish occupation. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Danish archaeologists Kinch and Blinkenberg carried out investigations in southern Rhodes and the acropolis of Lindos. Their findings were transported and exhibited in the Copenhagen Museum. After the occupation of Rhodes by the Kingdom of Italy, Italian archaeologists carried out surveys throughout Rhodes. In the acropolis of Lindos the investigations were not productive in terms of the number of finds, but recognising the importance of the site they proceeded with restoration work. The Greek Archaeological Service took over the continuation of these works in 1948, after the official incorporation of the Dodecanese into the Kingdom of Greece.

With the implementation of the Kapodistrias programme, Lindos had become the seat of the municipality of Lindia, which in addition to Lindos included the communities: Kalathos, Pylonas, Lardos and Laerma. With the implementation of the Kallikrates programme, the municipality of Lindia was incorporated as the Municipal Unit of Lindia in the single municipality of Rhodes.

Source Wikipedia