Rhodes acropolis of lindos history. Acropolis in lindos

According to the artifacts found, the city of Lindos was founded around the 10th century BC. The founder is considered one of the Greek kings from the Dorian tribes named Tleptolemus. On the other hand, the city of Lindos is mentioned in the ancient poem "Iliad" as one of the participants in the Trojan War as part of the Greeks (Achaeans). Recall that the Trojan War took place around the 13-12th century BC, that is, 200-300 years earlier.

The goddess Athena was the patroness of Lindos and the religious buildings above are dedicated to her. The Acropolis was rebuilt several times; archaeologists have established that the temple of Athena was expanded three times.

Lindos was a powerful city rich in trade. His navigators appeared in all ports of the Mediterranean. The city was able to maintain its independence in the war with the Persians and during the campaigns of Alexander the Great, but soon became part of the Roman Empire.

It was under the domination of Rome that the whole Mediterranean was converted to Christianity, and the acropolis of Lindos changed greatly. The temples of the ancient gods were converted into Christian churches.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Lindos became part of the Byzantine Empire. At this time, the city began to lose its significance and turned into just a fortress, which was used by the Byzantines, then the Knights Hospitallers, and then the Turks.

How to prepare for the excursion

The first thing to prepare for visiting the Acropolis of Lindos is a headdress. This is most important as there is a large open space upstairs with no shops or sheds. There's just nowhere to hide from the sun. Take a headdress, and preferably a hat, not a baseball cap.

Take some water with you, as we didn't find any shops upstairs either. You obviously don't want to go down for water and then run up the hill again.

If you stock up on all this in advance, you can calmly look up all the most interesting things and enjoy the beautiful views of the bay (pictured on the right) without any discomfort.

What to see in the Acropolis of Lindos

There are some interesting buildings upstairs.

Amphitheater

The first is the ancient Greek theater. It has a semicircular shape, which is classical for Greece; one can recall similar structures in or in Turkey. It is not very large and only held 1800 spectators.

There were not only performances, but also speeches, debates and important political issues.

The first three rows were assigned to the richest and noblest citizens. These rows were separated by a fence from the rest. This was followed by another 16 rows and then diazoma (this is the name of the passage between the rows in the amphitheater), and after that another 7 rows for commoners.

Unfortunately, little is left of the Lindos amphitheater now. You can see everything that has survived in the photo on the left. Click on the photo to enlarge.

The peculiarity of this theater was that it was not a building at all. It was completely cut out of the rock, not built. It is thanks to this that we now have an idea of \u200b\u200bits configuration. For example, even less survived from the local theater in the ancient one.

The Acropolis of Lindos is located in the southeast of the island of Rhodes, 56 km from the capital. It rises above the city of Lindos and St. Paul's Bay at an altitude of 116 m.
Ancient Lindos was one of the 3 city-states founded in Rhodes by the Dorians in the 12th century BC. It was the intersection of sea routes. It was here that the world's first code of maritime law was drawn up and ratified - the famous "Rhodes Law on Navigation".
At the foot of the steep cliff, on which the acropolis is located, you can see a unique petroglyph - a bas-relief of an ancient Greek warship, which dates back to the II century and has no analogues in the whole world. The image of the ship was made as a pedestal for the not preserved statue of the Navarh Agesandra, who distinguished himself in the sea battle and the inhabitants of Rhodes honored him with a golden wreath and a statue at the entrance to the Acropolis of Lindos. The statue stood at the stern of the ship, above the inscription, which is now no longer visible. The sculptor Pythocracy used an innovative way of convexly depicting the curvature of the stern of the ship right on the rock. To the right of the ship are the remains of a 6th century BC staircase. the time of the tyrant Cleobulus.
The path to the acropolis is the same as in ancient times - a narrow path winding serpentine around the rock. Passing through the monumental gate, you enter the territory of the archaeological site. Here you can see the small Byzantine Church of St. John and the Hospitaller's residence. The Knights of the Order of St. John built the walls of the acropolis, turning it into an impregnable fortress.
There is also a long vaulted gallery (Makra Stoa) of the Hellenistic period, consisting of 42 columns, 87 m long, at the base of which dome structures are still visible - underground cisterns used to store water. According to legend, the lack of water during the siege of Lindos by the Persians even caused the appearance of the goddess Athena in front of the priests.
Climbing the stairs, you can go to a whole complex of buildings, consisting of propylae, a large courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, and a small Doric temple with a two-sided orientation, dedicated to the goddess Athena, from where a truly unforgettable view of the Aegean Sea opens up. The temple of Athena Lindia, located in the southern part, was built in the 4th century BC. According to legend, the temple was founded by Danaos (the son of the Egyptian king Bel) and his 50 daughters during the period when they were forced to take refuge in Rhodes to avoid the jealousy of the goddess Hera. Even Alexander the Great himself came to worship the goddess Athena of Lindos.
An ancient theater is located in the acropolis, its stage and stands were carved into a depression in the rock.
All these monumental structures are a single ensemble, which is an example of ancient Greek architecture.
During its long history, the Acropolis of Lindos has undergone many destruction, in particular as a result of numerous earthquakes, but was partially reconstructed in the middle of the last century.

The address: Greece, Rhodes island, Lindos city
Major attractions: Temple of Athena of Lindia, Church of St. John, Fortress of the Knights
Coordinates: 36 ° 05 "29.9" N 28 ° 05 "17.9" \u200b\u200bE

Short description

The Greek island of Rhodes attracts the attention of thousands of tourists from all over the world, who are attracted not only by its mild climate and two seas (Aegean and Mediterranean), but also by the mass of historical and architectural monuments.

Surprisingly, the ruins of some of them date back to the pre-Greek (!) Period. One of the most interesting sights located near the city of Lindos is the legendary and world famous Acropolis. It is located on an "inaccessible" steep cliff, from the top of which a picturesque view of the sea opens.

General view of the Acropolis

In addition to the ruins of the Acropolis, a person who climbed the rock, which seems to hang over the endless water element, can see the castle built by knights during the Middle Ages. In the Acropolis of Lindos, there is a feeling that time did not rule in this place: the oldest sanctuaries, built back in 400s BC, in which pagan gods were worshiped, are located next to a Roman temple and with a more "modern" and "familiar" medieval fortress wall, fortification, tower and Christian chapel.

The Acropolis of Lindos is considered to be the second most important in all of Greece. However, its sights do not consist solely of ruins, and from them you can get a certain idea of \u200b\u200bthe importance for a huge country not only of a small town, whose population today is just over 4,000 people, but of the entire island. Naturally, it is rather difficult to overestimate the strategic importance of the island of Rhodes and the fortress that medieval knights built on a high rock.

General view of the Acropolis

True, one must not forget that even before our era, the exit to two seas at once made the Greek island just a tidbit for conquerors who could conduct uninterrupted trade from its ports and raid neighboring islands. It is for this reason that the island had a difficult history, associated mainly with bloody wars, betrayal, plunder and destruction. Let's be frank, such an unenviable fate was in ancient times not only for the island and its city of Lindos, with the once beautiful Acropolis, but for all of Greece.

Acropolis of Lindos - Temple of Athena Linda and the myth of the goddess

The city of Lindos, located on the island of Rhodes, like all ancient Greek cities, had its own patron, or rather the patroness. Athena Linda provided wealth, protection from enemies and prosperity to the townspeople. Undoubtedly, in the Acropolis of Lindos, the main building was considered a temple, in which the entire population of Rhodes brought gifts and worshiped the goddess. It was built according to the project of an architect, whose name has not been preserved by time, back in the 4th century BC. This is the official version of modern scientists, however, there is unconfirmed data indicating that Athena Linda was worshiped as early as 900 years before the Savior came to our world.

Temple of Athena Linda

As a result of archaeological excavations in The remains of an ancient sanctuary, erected in the 6th century BC, were found on the Acropolis of Lindos... The examination showed that the old temple was burned down, and in its place in the 4th century a "new" one appeared, with beautiful columns and a massive staircase. In ancient descriptions, there are references to the fact that Alexander the Great worshiped Athena Linda and made not a single pilgrimage to the temple on the territory of the Acropolis of Lindos.

One of the most interesting ancient Greek myths has survived to this day, telling how Athena Linda saved the inhabitants of Rhodes and the city located on it from plunder. Persian Darius ordered the commander Datis with his army to conquer Rhodes, and, thus, to secure a strategic advantage at sea. All the inhabitants, barely seeing the huge Persian army, took refuge on a high rock outside the walls of the Acropolis of Lindos. Datis understood that it would not be possible to take the Acropolis by storm and most of his army would die during the ascent to the hill.

St. John's Church

Therefore, the ancient strategist decided to wait until the people who took refuge in the Acropolis begin to die of thirst. The besieged did not really have supplies of drinking water, and almost everyone decided to surrender at the mercy of the Persians.

At that moment, Athena Linda herself appeared to one of the Greeks and said that she would not allow the enemy to seize the Acropolis. To Datis, to his ultimatum, the besieged replied that in the very near future Athena would help them, and they did not intend to surrender. The commander, according to an ancient legend, laughed for a long time at the simple-minded inhabitants of Rhodes, but the next day the incessant rains began and the people hiding behind the walls of the Acropolis of Lindos were able to replenish their supplies. Datis believed in the help of a higher power and, frightened by the anger of the goddess, decided to retreat. This myth says that the miraculous appearance of Athena Linda, in honor of whom the temple was built on the territory of the Acropolis of Lindos, occurred in 490 BC.

Fortress of the Knights

Unfortunately, time did not spare the once huge and beautiful temple. Numerous marauders and hunters for ancient values \u200b\u200bdid not spare him either. Today, only a few Doric columns and destroyed parts of the building remain from the sanctuary of Athena Linda. By the way, according to ancient descriptions, it can be assumed that in the center of the temple in ancient times there was a statue of the goddess Athena, which was destroyed or stolen, or maybe it was simply destroyed by time.

Acropolis of Lindos through the eyes of a modern tourist

You can climb the Acropolis of Lindos along a narrow path that winds around an impregnable rock like a snake. You can enter the territory through the fortification, which was built by the knights belonging to the Order of St. John. Almost immediately behind the powerful medieval fortification there is a ticket office. As with many monuments of history and architecture, access to the Acropolis of Lindos is paid, the ticket price is 6 euros, but for older people you can pay only 50% of the cost of the entrance ticket. Young people can get acquainted with the ruins of the Temple of Athena Linda and other attractions of the Acropolis for free. True, all the benefits are calculated only for citizens of countries belonging to the European Union.

Propylaea

Once a tourist enters the Acropolis of Lindos, he can immediately see two attractions. One of them is a small elevation made by ancient craftsmen in honor of a wealthy resident of Aglaohartra, who at one time presented olives as an offering to Athena Linda. To the right of this "monument" is one of the most interesting images of the Acropolis - an ancient ship, carved by an unknown sculptor right into the rock! Interestingly, this ship was a kind of pedestal for the statue of the hero Agesander, who at one time won a victory in one of the sea battles off the island of Rhodes. Archaeologists claim that the statue stood at the stern of the ship, but like other monuments, time did not spare it. Not even the inscription has survived, saying in honor of whom the ancient inhabitants of Rhodes installed the sculpture.

Remains of a temple, probably from the Roman period

After seeing these attractions, the tourist immediately finds himself on the stairs that lead to a building called the Palace of the Grand Master. It is worth noting that this structure was erected on the territory of the Acropolis of Lindos already during the Middle Ages, but the stairs leading to it date back to the 6th century BC. As mentioned above, on the territory of the Acropolis, towering on the rock of the island of Rhodes, the time periods are closely intertwined: near the Palace of the Grand Master are the ruins of a temple dedicated to Diocletian and built during the heyday of the Great Roman Empire.

After examining these ruins, you should go to the Propylaea - the gateway to the Acropolis through the Dorian Portico. By the way, next to the oldest portico is the Church of St. John, which, as is known from the surviving documents, was erected by knights in the 13th century AD. The dimensions of the Propylae are impressive - 34 steps 21 meters wide. Behind these Propylaea and is the main building of the ancient Acropolis of Lindos - the temple of the goddess Athena Linda... During the reign of the Romans, a portico in the Ionic style was added to the Propylaea, which was supposed to be a kind of "barrier" separating the holy place from the rest of the Acropolis. Acropolis guides say that gifts intended for Athena were displayed on the steps, and festive meals were often held on them.

On the territory of the Acropolis

Those who were brought to Greece should definitely take the time and go to the island of Rhodes to see firsthand the ancient Acropolis of Lindos. By the way, you can not pay to enter its territory every Sunday from November to April, as well as on the days of Greek national holidays. The description of the Acropolis of Lindos can be found in almost every tourist booklet that hotels in Greece offer their guests, which once again proves its importance as one of the main monuments of history and architecture.

Lindos is one of the three main cities of Rhodes, founded by the Dorians in the 10th century. BC. This city-state, being the first capital of the island, was famous for its commercial power - also thanks to its developed sea fleet. According to legend, Rhodes sent nine ships to the Trojan War, and all of them were equipped in Lindos. Already in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. Lindos monopolized most of the trade and shipping in the Mediterranean. The symbol of the power of Lindos was its impregnable Acropolis, located on a cliff 116 m above sea level. In 1309, Rhodes came into the possession of the Knights of the Jerusalem Order of St. John (Hospitallers), who settled on the island for two centuries. It was during this period that the walls of the Acropolis were surrounded by high fortified walls, which gives modern Lindos as an archaeological site a kind of eclectic mixture of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Initially, Lindos was inferior in size and development to its neighbors - Kamiros and Ialyssos, but, gradually expanding, began to dominate the Aegean Sea. Lindos established colonies in Asia Minor and southern Italy and developed trade relations with the Egyptians and Phoenicians. It was the Lindians who were the first to draw up the Code of the Law of the Sea.
The peak of Lindos' power was in the 6th century. BC, when the city was ruled by the tyrant Cleobulus, one of the seven wise men of antiquity. Later, the founding of the new capital of the island - Rhodes proper - and the expansion of Persian influence in the Aegean Sea led to a decrease in the economic and political influence of Lindos.

Modern view of Lindos and the Acropolis:

The history of the center of life of ancient Lindos - the Acropolis - is rooted in the cult of the goddess Athena. According to one version, the prehistoric inhabitants of the territory occupied by Lindos worshiped the goddess Lindia. The Dorians who arrived on the island combined the cult of the local goddess with the cult of the Doric Athena.

The rebuilt temple of Athena of Linda:

Modern researchers believe that the worship of the goddess Athena dates back to the 9th-8th centuries. BC. and continued until early Christian times. At this time, the first temple of the goddess Athena of Lindos was built, and the Acropolis of Lindos began its history. For almost the entire history of the city, the Acropolis has remained the vital center of Lindos. Over time, it took the form of a defensive fortress.

Part of the temple of the goddess Athena of Linda:

Historical information about the temple of Athena Lindia begins from the 4th century. BC, when the ruler (tyrant) of Lindos Cleobulus erected a new one on the site of the old temple, which exactly repeated the shape of the previous one, while being the first in the history of Antiquity to use funds collected from the citizens of the city for the construction of a public building. It was a Doric, four-column amphiprostyle temple after a fire in 342 BC. the temple was rebuilt, and it is its remains that have survived to our time. At the end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th centuries. BC. the Great Portico - Standing - was built in front of the Propylaea and a staircase was created leading to it.

View of the Commandant's Office and part of the Doric portico of the Acropolis of Lindos:

The large Hellenistic Portico is now partially restored. It forms a single ensemble with the Prolilei (of which only the base has survived), as was the case in the classical Acropolis in Athens. The portico is 87 m long and consists of 42 Doric columns, of which only 20 have survived to date. The Doric style of the Portico has one peculiarity - in the center it was not covered with a roof, and there was also no rear wall - so that through its colonnade one could see Hellenistic staircase with 34 steps leading to the Propylaea.

Portico and view of the Propylaea:

Behind the colonnade of the Propylaea there were five entrances to the sanctuary. On the last, fourth level, there is the temple of the goddess Athena of Linda. The temple is 21.6 m long and 7.7 m wide.

View of the Temple of Athena Linda. The caves under the Acropolis were used for ritual religious purposes both before the foundation of the temple and after - including in the early Christian period:

In front of the staircase leading to the Portico, there is a high horseshoe-shaped pedestal of blue-gray Rhodes stone with inscriptions on the back. One of them says that this platform was built in the 3rd century. in honor of Pamphilides, priest of the goddess Athena.

Staircase leading to the Portico:

Horseshoe Pedestal and Portico View:

In the northwest corner of the Portico are the ruins of the Byzantine Church of St. John:

Internal view of the Church of St. John:

A medieval staircase leads to the Acropolis along the fortress wall. Previously, the staircase was wider and was protected by a powerful wall on the east side. On the left, above the entrance to the Commandant's Office, there was an opening (katahistra), from where, during the siege, the defenders of the fortress poured boiling oil on the attackers. On the left, you can also see the remains of an antique staircase leading earlier to the Acropolis.

Medieval staircase leading to the Acropolis of Lindos:

The high and sheer rock on which the Acropolis is located has been a natural defensive object at all times.

Remains of the fortress wall of the Acropolis of Lindos:

The first defensive structure on the rock around the Acropolis was built by Cleobulus, and at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. a wall was built around it, fortified with rectangular towers.

Modern view of the fortifications of Lindos:

The Knights of Rhodes made extensions over the wall, built during the Byzantine period, and made the castle of Lindos one of the most powerful on the island. In the XVI - XVII centuries. the Turks built bastions at the three corners of the fortress to effectively resist the cannon fire.

The current state of the walls of the Acropolis of Lindos:

In Termindra (pack. Vliha), 3 km away from Lindos, in ancient times there was a shipyard where the famous Rhodes ships were built. On the stairs leading along the medieval walls to the Acropolis, there is a stone carved image of a Rhodes warship - triemolia (a combination of emolia and triremes). This image dates from 170 BC. and belongs to the hand of the sculptor Pitocrates, the author of the famous Nika of Samothrace. The relief was carved by the Lindians in honor of the victories of their commander Agesander.

The first excavations in Lindos were carried out in 1900-1904. Danish Archaeological Institute. From 1938 to 1940 - during the era of "Italian occupation" - the restoration work on the Acropolis was carried out by Italian specialists. However, the technique and materials used in the restoration work did not stand the test of time and environmental conditions. In the 1960s. the archaeological remains of the Acropolis have been deemed dangerous to visitors.
In 1985, work began on the restoration of the monuments of the acropolis by Greek specialists, which continues to this day.

The current view of the Acropolis of Lindos with the restoration work carried out there:

The Acropolis offers a stunning view of the surroundings of Lindos, in particular the harbor of St. Paul, where, according to legend, the Apostle Paul landed to preach Christianity to the inhabitants of Rhodes.

View of the harbor of St. Paul from the Acropolis of Lindos:

Views from the Acropolis of Lindos to the surroundings:

Small note: On a hot summer day, the Acropolis of Rhodes is the best place to get sunstroke

In the Acropolis of Lindos on the island of Rhodes, we got already full of impressions from visiting ancient cities, ruins and other historical sites. The Acropolis of Lindos is one of those rare occasions when we returned not absolutely enthusiastic and here's why.

Do not climb on donkeys!

Let's start from the beginning 🙂 In our case, with donkeys. The Acropolis of Lindos is not at the top, you can get there by elevator, car, funicular ... Stop, I'm not talking about it. You can climb there either on foot or on four asses. We already rode donkeys in Santorini when we climbed from the port of Fira to the city. There were god knows how many steps, and the climb was steep. The driver rode alongside him and set an excellent pace. We looked so cool and climbed so cheerfully!

It was logical to think that in Lindos it would be also reckless. Alas! It turned out that the driver was leading the donkeys we were sitting on all the way up on foot! The humanist in me in those minutes was indignant, and I tried not to meet the eyes of the people walking towards me. And the climb there is short-lived and not steep - do not repeat our mistakes, go yourself, you will not get tired!

Goodbye dear, we won't see you again.