Rhodes is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Greece. After Crete, the island is the most visited destination in Greece, with arrivals standing at 1,785,305 in 2013. In 2014 they stood at 1,931,005, while in 2015 the arrival number reduced slightly and stood at 1,901,000. The average length of stay is estimated at 8 days. Guests from Great Britain, Israel, France, Italy, Sweden and Norway constitute the biggest portion in terms of the arrivals by country. In Rhodes, the supply of available rooms is high, since more than 550 hotels are operating in the island, the majority of which are two star hotels.
"Rhodes Island" redirects here. For other uses, see Rhodes (disambiguation), Rhode (disambiguation), Rhode Island (disambiguation), and Rodi (disambiguation).
Rhodes
Ρόδος
Island and municipality
Flag
Seal
Nickname:
Island of the Sun
Location in the South Aegean administrative region of Greece
Coordinates: 36.17°N 27.92°E
Country
Seat
Government
• Mayor
Alexandros Koliadis di Koufidis
Area
• Total
1,400.68 km2 (540.81 sq mi)
Highest elevation
1,216 m (3,990 ft)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
(2025)
• Total
127,613
• Density
91/km2 (240/sq mi)
Rhodian, Rhodiot or Rhodiote (rare)
• Summer (DST)
851 00, 851 31, 851 32, 851 33 (for Rhodes town)
2241, 2244, 2246
Website
General view of the village of Lindos, with the acropolis and beaches, island of Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes (/roʊdz/ ⓘ; Greek: Ρόδος, romanized: Ródos [ˈroðos]) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the city of Rhodes,[1] which had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. In 2022, the island had a population of 125,113 people.[2] It is located northeast of Crete and southeast of Athens. Rhodes has several nicknames, such as "Island of the Sun" due to its patron sun god Helios, "The Pearl Island", and "The Island of the Knights", named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the island from 1310 to 1522.[3]
Historically, Rhodes was famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. During the early 21st century the island was one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.
Name
[edit]
The island has been known as Ρόδος (Ródos) in Greek throughout its history. Similar-sounding ῥόδον (rhódon) in ancient Greek was the word for the rose, whilst in modern Greek the also similar-sounding ρόδι (ródi) or ρόιδο (róido) refers to the pomegranate. It was also called Lindos (Ancient Greek: Λίνδος).[4][5] In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and רודי (Rodi) or רודיס (Rodes) in Ladino.
Other ancient names were Ρόδη (Rodē), Τελχινίς (Telchinis) and Ηλιάς (Helias).
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville incorrectly reports that Rhodes was formerly called "Collosus", through a conflation of the Colossus of Rhodes and Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, which refers to Colossae.[6]
The island's name might be derived from erod, Phoenician for snake, since the island was home to many snakes in antiquity.[7]
History
[edit]
Prehistory
[edit]
During the Late Pleistocene, the island was inhabited by an unnamed species of dwarf elephant.[8] The island has been inhabited by humans since at least the late Neolithic, as evidenced by remains found at Kalythies cave on the northeast of the island.[9][10]
Bronze age
[edit]
At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, during the Early Bronze Age, major urban settlements began to develop on Rhodes, such as Asomatos, which is the earliest known urban centre on the island. Duck shaped vases found at Asomatos suggest contact with Cyprus as well as elsewhere in the Aegean region during this time.[11]
Minoan Era
[edit]
Main article: Minoan civilization
The Minoan Civilisation established a settlement Tiranda on the northwest of the island during the 16th century BC, presumably to facilitate trade.[12]
Mycenaean Era
[edit]
Main articles: Doric Hexapolis, Mycenaean Greece, and Greek Dark Ages
Mycenaean necklace of carnelian found in Kattavia
In the 15th century BC, Mycenaean Greeks invaded. After the Bronze Age collapse, the first renewed outside contacts were with Cyprus.[13]
In Greek legend, Rhodes was claimed to have participated in the Trojan War under the leadership of Tlepolemus.[14]
Archaic Era
[edit]
Main article: Archaic Greece
Warrior-headed vase, Camirus, Rhodes, 590–575 BC
In the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form, with the coming of the Dorians, who built the three important cities of Lindus, Ialysus and Camirus, which together with Kos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis (Greek for six cities).
In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhodos, and the cities were named for their three sons. The rhoda is a pink hibiscus, native to the island. Diodorus Siculus added that Actis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, travelled to Egypt. He built the city of Heliopolis and taught the Egyptians astrology.[15]
In the second half of the 8th century BC, the sanctuary of Athena received votive gifts that are markers for cultural contacts: small ivories from the Near East and bronze objects from Syria. At Kameiros on the northwest coast, a former Bronze Age site, where the temple was founded in the 8th century BC, there is another notable contemporaneous sequence of carved ivory figurines. The cemeteries of Kameiros and Ialyssos yielded several exquisite exemplars of the Orientalizing Rhodian jewelry, dated in the 7th and early 6th centuries BC.[16]
Classical Era
[edit]
Temple of Apollo at the Acropolis of Rhodes
Main article: Classical Greece
The Persians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. The Rhodian cities joined the Athenian League. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and decided to go their own way.
Being the eastern gate to the Aegean Sea, Rhodes was an important stopping point for Phoenician merchants, and prosperous trading colonies and Phoenician communities emerged there, some within the Greek cities.[17]
In 408 BC, the cities united to form one territory. They built the city of Rhodes, a new capital on the northern end of the island. Its regular plan was, according to Strabo, superintended by the Athenian architect Hippodamus.
In 357 BC, the island was conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria; then it fell again to the Persians in 340 BC. Their rule was also short.
Hellenistic and Roman periods
[edit]
Main articles: Hellenistic Greece and Greece in the Roman era
Rhodes then became a part of the growing empire of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.
The Colossus of Rhodes, as depicted in an artist's impression of 1880
Following the death of Alexander, his generals (Diadochi) vied for control of the kingdom. Three — Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigonus — succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC.[18]
The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center; its coins circulated nearly everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature and rhetoric shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetorician Aeschines, who formed a school at Rhodes; Apollonius of Rhodes, who wrote about Jason and Medea in the Argonautica; the observations and works of the astronomers Hipparchus and Geminus; and the rhetorician Dionysius Thrax. Its school of sculptors developed, under Pergamese influence, a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as "Hellenistic Baroque". Agesander of Rhodes, with two other Rhodian sculptors, carved the famous Laocoön group, now in the Vatican Museums, and the large sculptures rediscovered at Sperlonga in the villa of Tiberius, probably in the early Imperial period.[19]
In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son, Demetrius, to besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created huge siege engines, including a 180 ft (55 m) battering ram and a siege tower called Helepolis that weighed 360,000 lb (163,293 kg). Despite this engagement, in 304 BC after only one year, he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios, the statue since called the Colossus of Rhodes. The Rhodians celebrated in honour of Helios a grand festival, the Halieia.[20]
Throughout the 3rd century BC, Rhodes attempted to secure its independence and commerce, particularly its virtual control over the grain trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Both of these goals depended on none of the three great Hellenistic states achieving dominance. Consequently, the Rhodians pursued a policy of maintaining a balance of power among the Antigonids, Seleucids, and Ptolemies, even if that meant going to war with its traditional ally, Egypt. To this end, they employed their economy and their excellent navy as leverage, which was manned by proverbially the finest sailors in the Mediterranean world: “If we have ten Rhodians, we have ten ships.”[21]
The Rhodians also established their dominance on the shores of Caria across from their island, which became known as the "Rhodian Peraia". It extended roughly from the modern city of Muğla (ancient Mobolla) in the north and Kaunos bordering Lycia in the south, near the present-day Dalyan, Turkey.
Rhodes successfully carried on this policy through the course of the third century BC, an impressive achievement for what was essentially a democratic state. By the end of that period, however, the balance of power was crumbling, as declining Ptolemaic power made Egypt an attractive target for Seleucid ambitions. In 203/2 BC the young and dynamic kings of Antigonid Macedon and Seleucid Asia, Philip V and Antiochus III, agreed to accept—at least temporarily—their respective military ambitions: Philip's campaign in the Aegean and western Anatolia and Antiochus' plan for Egypt. Heading a coalition of small states, the Rhodians checked Philip's navy, but not his superior army. Without a third power to which to turn, the Rhodians (along with ambassadors from Pergamum, Egypt, and Athens) appealed in 201 BC to the Roman Republic.[22][23]
Medieval gate at the Acropolis of LindosSilver drachma of Rhodes, 88/42 BC. Obverse: radiate head of Helios. Reverse: rose, "rhodon" (ῥόδον), the symbol of Rhodes.
Despite being exhausted by the Second Punic War against Hannibal (218–201 BC) the Romans agreed to intervene, still angry over the Macedonian alliance with Carthage that had led to the First Macedonian War from 214 to 205 BC. The Senate saw the appeal from Rhodes and her allies as the opportunity to pressure Philip. The result was the Second Macedonian War (200–196 BC), which Rome won and greatly reduced Macedon's power, prestige, and territory. Rhodian independence was preserved. Rhodian influence in the Aegean was cemented through the organization of the Cyclades into the Second Nesiotic League under Rhodian leadership.
The Romans withdrew from Greece after the end of the conflict, but the resulting power vacuum quickly drew in Antiochus III and subsequently the Romans. The Roman–Seleucid War lasted from 192 to 188 BC with Rome, Rhodes, Pergamon, and other Roman-allied Greek states defeated the Seleucids and their allies, the last Mediterranean power that might even vaguely threaten Roman dominance. Having provided Rome with valuable naval help in her first foray into Asia, the Rhodians were rewarded with territory and enhanced status by the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC).[24] The Romans once again evacuated the east – the Senate preferred clients to provinces – but it was clear that Rome now ruled the Mediterranean and Rhodian autonomy was ultimately dependent upon good relations with them.
Those good graces soon evaporated in the wake of the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). In 169 BC, during the war against Perseus, Rhodes sent Agepolis as ambassador to the consul Quintus Marcius Philippus, and then to Rome in the following year, hoping to turn the Senate against the war.[25]
Rhodes remained scrupulously neutral during the war, but in the view of hostile elements in the Senate she had been a bit too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some actually proposed declaring war on the island republic, but this was averted. In 164 BC, Rhodes became a "permanent ally" of Rome, which was essentially a reduction to client state of nominal but meaningless independence. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.
After surrendering its independence, Rhodes became a cultural and educational center for Roman noble families. It was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as Hermagoras and the unknown author of Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first, the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics. Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city in 43 BC. In the early Imperial period Rhodes became a favorite place for political exiles.[26]
In the 1st century AD, the Emperor Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes. By tradition, Paul the Apostle evangelized and helped establish an early Christian church on the island during the first century.[27]
In ancient times there was a Roman saying: "Hic Rhodus, hic salta!"—"Here is Rhodes, jump here!" (as translated from Ancient Greek "Αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ Ῥόδος καὶ πήδημα"), an admonition to prove one's idle boasts by deed, rather than boastful talk. It comes from an Aesop's fable called "The Boasting Traveller" and was cited by Hegel, Marx, and Kierkegaard.
Byzantine period
[edit]
Main article: Byzantine Greece
In 395 with the division of the Roman Empire, the long Byzantine period began for Rhodes. In Late Antiquity, the island was the capital of the Roman province of the Islands, headed by a praeses (hegemon in Greek), and encompassing most of the Aegean islands, with twenty cities. Correspondingly, the island was also the metropolis of the ecclesiastical province of Cyclades, with eleven suffragan sees.[28]
Beginning from ca. 600 AD, its influence in maritime issues was manifested in the collection of maritime laws known as "Rhodian Sea Law" (Nomos Rhodion Nautikos), accepted throughout the Mediterranean and in use throughout Byzantine times (and influencing the development of admiralty law up to the present).[citation needed] In 622/3, during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Rhodes was captured by the Sasanian navy.[29][30][31]
Rhodes was occupied by the Islamic Umayyad forces of Caliph Muawiyah I in 654, who carried off the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes.[28][32] The island was again captured by the Arabs in 673 as part of their first attack on Constantinople. When their fleet was destroyed by Greek fire before Constantinople and by storms on its return trip, however, the Umayyads evacuated their troops in 679/80 as part of the Byzantine–Umayyad peace treaty.[33] In 715 the Byzantine fleet dispatched against the Arabs launched a rebellion at Rhodes, which led to the installation of Theodosios III on the Byzantine throne.[28][34]
From the early 8th to the 12th centuries, Rhodes belonged to the Cibyrrhaeot Theme of the Byzantine Empire, and was a centre for shipbuilding and commerce.[28] In c. 1090, it was occupied by the forces of the Seljuk Turks, after the long period of chaos resulting from the Battle of Manzikert.[35] Rhodes was recaptured by the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the First Crusade.
Part of the late medieval fortifications of Rhodes
As Byzantine central power weakened under the Angeloi emperors (1185–1204), in the first half of the 13th century, Rhodes became the centre of an independent domain under Leo Gabalas and his brother John,[28] until it was occupied by the Genoese in 1248–1250. The Genoese were evicted by the Empire of Nicaea, after which the island became a regular province of the Nicaean state (and after 1261 of the restored Byzantine Empire). In 1305, the island was given as a fief to Andrea Morisco, a Genoese adventurer who had entered Byzantine service.
Crusader and Ottoman rule
[edit]
Further information: Ottoman Greece and Hospitaller Rhodes
Ottoman Janissaries and defending Knights of Saint John at the Siege of Rhodes in 1522, from an Ottoman manuscriptRhodes in the 19th century
In 1306–1310, the Byzantine era of the island's history came to an end when the island was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller.[28] Under the rule of the newly named "Knights of Rhodes", the city was rebuilt into a model of the European medieval ideal. Many of the city's famous monuments, including the Palace of the Grand Master, were built during this period.
Palace of the Grand Master in the city of Rhodes
The walls had been strengthened by the Knights through hiring Italian engineers that used knowledge of ballistics to design defences against gunpowder attacks, and which withstood the attacks of the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, and a siege by the Ottomans under Mehmed II in 1480. Eventually, however, Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522. The Sultan deployed 400 ships delivering 100,000 men to the island (200,000 in other sources). Against this force the Knights, under Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, had about 7,000 men-at-arms, with an English, Spanish, French, and Italian contingent each defending separate areas and their fortifications. The siege lasted six months, at the end of which the surviving defeated Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to the Kingdom of Sicily. Despite the defeat, both Christians and Muslims seem to have regarded the conduct of Villiers de L'Isle-Adam as extremely valiant, and the Grand Master was proclaimed a Defender of the Faith by Pope Adrian VI (see Knights of Cyprus and Rhodes). The knights would later move their base of operations to Malta and Gozo.
Rhodes was thereafter a possession of the Ottoman Empire (see Sanjak of Rhodes) for nearly four centuries.
Modern history
[edit]
5 soldi Austrian Levant stamp cancelled in brown RHODUS.[36]Italian landing at Rhodes on May 4, 1912, during the Italo-Turkish WarPalazzo Governale (today the offices of the Prefecture of the Dodecanese), built during the Italian period
In the 19th century the island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews, whose presence goes back 2,300 years.[37] Under Ottoman rule, they generally did fairly well, but discrimination and bigotry occasionally arose. In February 1840, the Jews of Rhodes were falsely accused by the Greek Orthodox community of ritually murdering a Christian boy. This became known as the Rhodes blood libel.
Austria opened a post-office at RHODUS (Venetian name) before 1864,[38] as witnessed by stamps with Franz Joseph's head.
In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Ottomans during the Italo-Turkish War. Being under Italian administration, the island's population was thus spared the "exchange of the minorities" between Greece and Turkey. Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese Islands were assigned to Italy in the Treaty of Ouchy. Although the treaty stipulated that the islands were to be returned to Turkey, the advent of World War I prevented this from happening. Turkey ceded them officially to Italy with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. It then became the core of their possession of the Isole Italiane dell'Egeo.
Thousands of Italian colonists settled in the island, mainly in the capital "Rodi", while some of them founded farm villages (like "Peveragno Rodio" (1929), "Campochiaro" (1935), "San Marco" (1936) and "Savona" (1938): in 1940 the creation of the "Provincia italiana di Rodi" in the Dodecanese islands was officially proposed. In the late 1930s, Mussolini embarked on a program of Italianization, attempting to make the island of Rhodes a transportation hub that would facilitate the spread of Italian culture in Greece and the Levant. The Fascist program coincided with improvements to infrastructure, building imposing buildings such as the Hotel Rodon, the Puccini Theater and many administrative buildings with master architects such as Armando Bernabiti and Florestano Di Fausto.[39] While the government worked at modernization, they also obliterated many historical buildings that did not match their ideal of a modern society.
The island suffered through many "governors" appointed by the Italian government. As such, in 1938, the "Leggi razziali" (Racial Laws) were passed, mimicking the footsteps of the antisemitic policies promoted in other European countries. All Jews who served in the government, including the military, were forced to resign, school children were forced to abandon their studies, and all commerce that included any dealings with Jews was forbidden.
Following the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides. This was anticipated by the German Army, which succeeded in occupying the island with the Battle of Rhodes. In great measure, the German occupation caused the British failure in the subsequent Dodecanese Campaign.
After September 1943, the Jews were sent to concentration camps. However, the Turkish Consul Selahattin Ülkümen succeeded, at considerable risk to himself and his family, in saving 42 Jewish families, about 200 persons in total, who had Turkish citizenship or were members of Turkish citizens' families.
Indian soldiers taking over a sentry post from a German soldier following the German surrender in 1945
On 8 May 1945, the Germans under Otto Wagener surrendered Rhodes as well as the Dodecanese as a whole to the British, who soon after then occupied the islands as a military protectorate.[40]
At the Paris Peace Treaties, Rhodes, together with the other islands of the Dodecanese, was united with Greece in February 1947. 6,000 Italian colonists were forced to abandon the island and returned to Italy.
Contemporary period
[edit]
In 1949, Rhodes was the venue for negotiations between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, concluding with the 1949 Armistice Agreements. [41]
In 2023, the island was hit by the 2023 Greece wildfires, which forced the largest evacuations in the history of Greece. Nearly 19,000 people had to evacuate.[42]
Geography
[edit]
The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead, 79.7 km (49.5 mi) long and 38 km (24 mi) across at its widest, with a total area of approximately 1,400 km2 (541 sq mi) and a coastline of approximately 220 km (137 mi). Limestone is the main bedrock.[43] The city of Rhodes is located at the northern tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient and modern commercial harbours. The main airport is the Diagoras International Airport (IATA code: RHO), located 14 km (9 mi) to the southwest of the city in Paradisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.
Outside the city of Rhodes, the island is dotted with small villages of whitewashed homes and spa resorts, among them Faliraki, Lindos, Kremasti, Haraki, Pefkos, Archangelos, Afantou, Koskinou, Embona (Attavyros), Paradisi, and Trianta (Ialysos).
Rhodes is situated 363 km (226 mi) east-southeast from the Greek mainland, and 18 km (11 mi) from the southern shore of Turkey. Mount Attavyros, at 1,216 m (3,990 ft), is the island's highest point of elevation.
Flora
[edit]
Further information: Natural history of Rhodes
The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine (Pinus brutia) and cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). While the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. Many flowering plants for which the island is named are abundant.
Fauna
[edit]
Further information: Natural history of Rhodes
The Rhodian population of fallow deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005, and to be of urgent conservation concern.[44] In Petaloudes Valley (Greek for "Valley of the Butterflies"), large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months.
Earthquakes
[edit]
Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes; one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes;[45] and one on 26 June 1926.[46]
On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, causing minor damage to a few old buildings and one death.[47]
Climate
[edit]
Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in the Köppen climate classification) with mild winters and hot summers. The South East of the island experiences a significantly warmer climate with Lindos registering a mean annual temperature of around 22.0 °C (71.6 °F),[48] making it the warmest area in Greece.[49][50] The Rhodes International Airport in coastal Paradeisi has never dropped below 1.2 °C (34.2 °F) from 1977 when the station started its operation.[51][52] The old inland Maritsa Airport has dropped as low as −4.0 °C (24.8 °F).[53] The highest temperature ever recorded in Paradeisi was 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) while the highest temperature ever recorded on the island was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) in Lindos.[54][55] Coastal Rhodes falls in 11a hardiness zone. [56] Moreover, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, South East Rhodes records the highest mean annual sunshine in Greece with over 3,100 hours.[57]
hideClimate data for Rhodes International Airport, Paradeisi 7 m a.s.l. (1995-2025). Extremes 1977-present
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
21.0
(69.8)
22.6
(72.7)
27.6
(81.7)
29.6
(85.3)
34.6
(94.3)
39.4
(102.9)
38.0
(100.4)
40.2
(104.4)
34.8
(94.6)
33.0
(91.4)
28.0
(82.4)
23.4
(74.1)
40.2
(104.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
15.3
(59.5)
15.6
(60.1)
17.3
(63.1)
20.2
(68.4)
24.0
(75.2)
27.9
(82.2)
30.5
(86.9)
30.7
(87.3)
28.2
(82.8)
24.6
(76.3)
20.8
(69.4)
17.1
(62.8)
22.7
(72.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)
13.1
(55.6)
13.2
(55.8)
14.7
(58.5)
17.3
(63.1)
21.0
(69.8)
25.0
(77.0)
27.5
(81.5)
27.8
(82.0)
25.6
(78.1)
22.0
(71.6)
18.1
(64.6)
14.7
(58.5)
20.0
(68.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
10.9
(51.6)
10.8
(51.4)
12.1
(53.8)
14.4
(57.9)
18.0
(64.4)
22.0
(71.6)
24.4
(75.9)
25.0
(77.0)
22.9
(73.2)
19.3
(66.7)
15.4
(59.7)
12.4
(54.3)
17.3
(63.1)
Record low °C (°F)
1.4
(34.5)
1.2
(34.2)
1.8
(35.2)
5.8
(42.4)
11.0
(51.8)
14.4
(57.9)
17.5
(63.5)
21.0
(69.8)
17.0
(62.6)
8.8
(47.8)
6.0
(42.8)
4.0
(39.2)
1.2
(34.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches)
133.4
(5.25)
84.3
(3.32)
57.6
(2.27)
28.4
(1.12)
18.1
(0.71)
2.0
(0.08)
0.8
(0.03)
1.4
(0.06)
7.9
(0.31)
42.0
(1.65)
95.7
(3.77)
138.0
(5.43)
609.6
(24)
Mean monthly sunshine hours
152.2
171.5
233.0
277.1
318.5
370.3
391.6
359.0
307.4
254.9
189.3
150.3
3,175.1
Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service (Apr 1995-Mar 2025),[58] Infoclimat,[59] Extremes from 1977,[60] Sunshine (Aug 2009-Feb 2025)[61]
showClimate data for Rhodes Airport (Integrated Maritsa and Paradeisi climate normals)
showClimate data for Rhodes Port 4 m a.s.l.
showClimate data for Lindos 65 m a.s.l.
hideSea temperature for Rhodes
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average sea temperature °C (°F)
17.9
(64.2)
17.0
(62.6)
17.1
(62.8)
17.6
(63.7)
20.1
(68.2)
23.4
(74.1)
25.9
(78.6)
27.2
(81.0)
26.7
(80.1)
23.8
(74.8)
20.9
(69.6)
18.8
(65.8)
21.4
(70.5)
Mean daily daylight hours
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
14.0
13.0
12.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
12.1
Average Ultraviolet index
2
3
5
7
8
10
10
9
7
5
3
2
5.9
Source: Weather Atlas[65]
Detailed map of Rhodes, Kos and nearby landsTopographic map of RhodesAkramitis mountain
Archaeology
[edit]
Fountain square at the ancient site of KameirosMedieval castle of MonolithosKastro Kritinias, Kritinia Castle, The Kastellos
The Colossus of Rhodes was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This giant bronze statue was documented as once standing at the harbour. It was completed in 280 BC and destroyed in an earthquake in 226 BC. No trace of the statue remains today.
Historical sites on the island of Rhodes include the Acropolis of Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes with the Temple of Pythian Apollo and an ancient theatre and stadium,[72] ancient Ialysos, ancient Kamiros, the Governor's Palace, Rhodes Old Town (walled medieval city), the Palace of the Grand Masters, Kahal Shalom Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, the Archaeological Museum, the ruins of the castle of Monolithos, the castle of Kritinia, St. Catherine Hospice and Rhodes Footbridge.
Religion
[edit]
Filerimos Monastery in Ialysos
Christianity
[edit]
The predominant religion of Rhodes is Greek Orthodox; the island is the seat of the Metropolis of Rhodes.
There is a Latin Catholic[73] minority on the island of 2,000, many of whom are descendants of Italians who remained after the end of the Italian occupation, pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes.[citation needed]
Islam
[edit]
Main article: Turks of the Dodecanese
Rhodes has a Turkish Muslim minority, which includes Greek Muslims whose ancestors from Crete and the Dodecanese converted to Islam in the Ottoman period. Although a remnant from Ottoman Turkish times they were not required in the population exchange of 1923–24 to resettle in Turkey like the Turkish, Greek, and other Muslim communities living mainly in Macedonia and other parts of Northern Greece because unlike these areas the Dodecanese Islands were under Italian administration at the time. They are organized around the Turkish Association of Rhodes (Turkish: Rodos Türk Derneği), which gives the figure 3,500 for the population they bring together and represent for the island.[74] The number of the Turks in Rhodes could be as many as 4,000.[75][76][77]
Judaism
[edit]
Main article: History of the Jews in Rhodes
See also: Selahattin Ülkümen
The Jewish community of Rhodes[78] goes back 2,300 years.[37] Kahal Shalom Synagogue, established in 1557, during the Ottoman era, is the oldest synagogue in Greece and still stands in the Jewish quarter (La Juderia) of the old town of Rhodes. At its peak in the 1920s, the Jewish community was one-third of the town's total population.[79] In the 1940s, there were about 2000 Jews of various ethnic backgrounds. The Nazis deported and killed most of the community during the Holocaust. Kahal Shalom has been renovated with the help of foreign donors but few Jews live year-round in Rhodes today, so services are not held on a regular basis.[80]
The Jewish Museum of Rhodes was established in 1997 to preserve the Jewish history and culture of the Jews of Rhodes. It is adjacent to the Kahal Shalom Synagogue.
The Congolese businessman and politician, and former governor of Katanga, Moïse Katumbi's father, Nissim Soriano was a Greek Sephardic Jew, who fled Rhodes in 1938, who settled in Katanga, in the Congo, a Belgian colony at the time.[81]
Government
[edit]
View of ArchangelosView of Lindos with the AcropolisView of Embonas and the mountain of AttavyrosSt Paul's Bay, Lindos
The present municipality Rhodes was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 10 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in parentheses):[1]
The municipality has an area of 1400.681 km2.[83][failed verification] It covers the island of Rhodes and a few uninhabited offshore islets. Rhodes city was the capital of the former Dodecanese Prefecture. Rhodes is the most populated island of the South Aegean Region.[citation needed]
Towns and villages
[edit]
Rhodes has 43 towns and villages:
Town/Village
Population
Municipal unit
50,636
Rhodes
11,331
6,329
5,476
5,396
4,832
3,679
3,641
3,087
2,667
1,808
1,380
1,278
1,242
1,135
1,004
858
853
845
809
646
582
671
641
627
576
503
502
502
496
465
361
355
323
307
304
291
215
196
181
155
153
152
Economy
[edit]
View of the market (Nea Agora) of Mandraki (Rhodes city), built during the Italian period
The economy is tourist-oriented, and the most developed sector is service. Tourism has elevated Rhodes economically, compared to the rest of Greece.[84]
Small industries process imported raw materials for local retail, though other industry includes agricultural goods production, stockbreeding, fishery and winery.
Transportation
[edit]
Air
[edit]
Diagoras Airport, arrivals terminal
Rhodes has two airports, but only one is public. Diagoras Airport, southwest of Rhodes City, is the fourth biggest by passenger volume in Greece, and the main entrance/exit point to the island for both locals and tourists. The island is well connected with other major Greek cities and islands as well as with major European capitals and cities via charter flights. Until 1977, Rhodes Maritsa Airport, built in 1938, was a public airport; it is now used by the Hellenic Air Force and occasionally for car races.
There are also two inoperative airfields. Kalathos Airfield, north of Lindos, and Kattavia Airstrip, to the south of the island, were built by the Italians during the Second World War. Neither remains operational.
Two pilot schools offer aviation services (small plane rental and island hopping).
Sea
[edit]
Louis Majesty at the harbour of RhodesThe Kameiros Skala Dock
Rhodes has five ports, three of them in Rhodes City, one in the west coast near Kamiros and one in east coast near Lardos.[citation needed]
From Rhodes to Marmaris and Fethiye
[edit]
Road network
[edit]
The road network of the island is mostly paved and consists of 3 national roads plus one planned, 40 provincial and numerous local. These are the four major island arteries:
Future roads:[citation needed]
Bus
[edit]
Bus services are handled by two operators:[89]
Cars and motorbikes
[edit]
Families in Rhodes often own more than one car, along with a motorbike. Traffic jams are common particularly in the summer months as vehicles more than double while parking spots downtown and around the old town are limited and can't cope with demand. Moreover, the island is served by 450 taxis and some 200 public and private buses adding to the traffic burden.
Sports
[edit]
Diagoras Stadium in the city of Rhodes
Cuisine
[edit]
Pitaroudia, a traditional chickpea dumpling from Rhodes and DodecaneseFanouropitaMelekouni
Rhodian tradition in cuisine is rich. Koriantolino and Souma (colorless alcoholic beverage produced from grape distillation) are the main alcoholic drinks of Rhodes. Local foods include:
Notable people
[edit]
Head of HipparchusPanaetius, from Nuremberg Chronicle
and
Sport
[edit]
Diagoras of Rhodes carried in the stadium by his two sons
Tourism
[edit]
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Rhodes is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Greece. After Crete, the island is the most visited destination in Greece, with arrivals standing at 1,785,305 in 2013. In 2014 they stood at 1,931,005, while in 2015 the arrival number reduced slightly and stood at 1,901,000.[citation needed] The average length of stay is estimated at 8 days. Guests from Great Britain, Israel, France, Italy, Sweden and Norway constitute the biggest portion in terms of the arrivals by country. In Rhodes, the supply of available rooms is high, since more than 550 hotels are operating in the island, the majority of which are two star hotels.
In popular culture
[edit]
Panoramas
[edit]
Rhodes harbor in 2017Rhodes panorama in 2017
See also
[edit]
Citations
[edit]
General and cited sources
[edit]
External links
[edit]
Rhodesat Wikipedia's sister projects
show
show
Administrative division of the South Aegean Region
show
Subdivisions of the municipality of Rhodes
show
show
Landmarks of Rhodes
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Phoenician cities and colonies
Algeria
Rusubbicari (Zemmouri El Bahri)
Cyprus
Greece
Rhodes
Israel
Italy
Lebanon
Libya
Malta
Maleth (Cospicua)
Morocco
Heq she Elisha (Ksar es-Seghir)
Portugal
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Spain
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Journeys of Paul the Apostle
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"Rhodes Island" redirects here. For other uses, see Rhodes (disambiguation), Rhode (disambiguation), Rhode Island (disambiguation), and Rodi (disambiguation).
Rhodes
Ρόδος
Island and municipality
Flag
Seal
Nickname:
Island of the Sun
Location in the South Aegean administrative region of Greece
Coordinates: 36.17°N 27.92°E
Country
Seat
Government
• Mayor
Alexandros Koliadis di Koufidis
Area
• Total
1,400.68 km2 (540.81 sq mi)
Highest elevation
1,216 m (3,990 ft)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
(2025)
• Total
127,613
• Density
91/km2 (240/sq mi)
Rhodian, Rhodiot or Rhodiote (rare)
• Summer (DST)
851 00, 851 31, 851 32, 851 33 (for Rhodes town)
2241, 2244, 2246
Website
General view of the village of Lindos, with the acropolis and beaches, island of Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes (/roʊdz/ ⓘ; Greek: Ρόδος, romanized: Ródos [ˈroðos]) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the South Aegean administrative region. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is the city of Rhodes,[1] which had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. In 2022, the island had a population of 125,113 people.[2] It is located northeast of Crete and southeast of Athens. Rhodes has several nicknames, such as "Island of the Sun" due to its patron sun god Helios, "The Pearl Island", and "The Island of the Knights", named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who ruled the island from 1310 to 1522.[3]
Historically, Rhodes was famous for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. During the early 21st century the island was one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.
Name
[edit]
The island has been known as Ρόδος (Ródos) in Greek throughout its history. Similar-sounding ῥόδον (rhódon) in ancient Greek was the word for the rose, whilst in modern Greek the also similar-sounding ρόδι (ródi) or ρόιδο (róido) refers to the pomegranate. It was also called Lindos (Ancient Greek: Λίνδος).[4][5] In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and רודי (Rodi) or רודיס (Rodes) in Ladino.
Other ancient names were Ρόδη (Rodē), Τελχινίς (Telchinis) and Ηλιάς (Helias).
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville incorrectly reports that Rhodes was formerly called "Collosus", through a conflation of the Colossus of Rhodes and Paul's Epistle to the Colossians, which refers to Colossae.[6]
The island's name might be derived from erod, Phoenician for snake, since the island was home to many snakes in antiquity.[7]
History
[edit]
Prehistory
[edit]
During the Late Pleistocene, the island was inhabited by an unnamed species of dwarf elephant.[8] The island has been inhabited by humans since at least the late Neolithic, as evidenced by remains found at Kalythies cave on the northeast of the island.[9][10]
Bronze age
[edit]
At the end of the 3rd millennium BC, during the Early Bronze Age, major urban settlements began to develop on Rhodes, such as Asomatos, which is the earliest known urban centre on the island. Duck shaped vases found at Asomatos suggest contact with Cyprus as well as elsewhere in the Aegean region during this time.[11]
Minoan Era
[edit]
Main article: Minoan civilization
The Minoan Civilisation established a settlement Tiranda on the northwest of the island during the 16th century BC, presumably to facilitate trade.[12]
Mycenaean Era
[edit]
Main articles: Doric Hexapolis, Mycenaean Greece, and Greek Dark Ages
Mycenaean necklace of carnelian found in Kattavia
In the 15th century BC, Mycenaean Greeks invaded. After the Bronze Age collapse, the first renewed outside contacts were with Cyprus.[13]
In Greek legend, Rhodes was claimed to have participated in the Trojan War under the leadership of Tlepolemus.[14]
Archaic Era
[edit]
Main article: Archaic Greece
Warrior-headed vase, Camirus, Rhodes, 590–575 BC
In the 8th century BC, the island's settlements started to form, with the coming of the Dorians, who built the three important cities of Lindus, Ialysus and Camirus, which together with Kos, Cnidus and Halicarnassus (on the mainland) made up the so-called Dorian Hexapolis (Greek for six cities).
In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhodos, and the cities were named for their three sons. The rhoda is a pink hibiscus, native to the island. Diodorus Siculus added that Actis, one of the sons of Helios and Rhode, travelled to Egypt. He built the city of Heliopolis and taught the Egyptians astrology.[15]
In the second half of the 8th century BC, the sanctuary of Athena received votive gifts that are markers for cultural contacts: small ivories from the Near East and bronze objects from Syria. At Kameiros on the northwest coast, a former Bronze Age site, where the temple was founded in the 8th century BC, there is another notable contemporaneous sequence of carved ivory figurines. The cemeteries of Kameiros and Ialyssos yielded several exquisite exemplars of the Orientalizing Rhodian jewelry, dated in the 7th and early 6th centuries BC.[16]
Classical Era
[edit]
Temple of Apollo at the Acropolis of Rhodes
Main article: Classical Greece
The Persians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. The Rhodian cities joined the Athenian League. When the Peloponnesian War broke out in 431 BC, Rhodes remained largely neutral, although it remained a member of the League. The war lasted until 404 BC, but by this time Rhodes had withdrawn entirely from the conflict and decided to go their own way.
Being the eastern gate to the Aegean Sea, Rhodes was an important stopping point for Phoenician merchants, and prosperous trading colonies and Phoenician communities emerged there, some within the Greek cities.[17]
In 408 BC, the cities united to form one territory. They built the city of Rhodes, a new capital on the northern end of the island. Its regular plan was, according to Strabo, superintended by the Athenian architect Hippodamus.
In 357 BC, the island was conquered by the king Mausolus of Caria; then it fell again to the Persians in 340 BC. Their rule was also short.
Hellenistic and Roman periods
[edit]
Main articles: Hellenistic Greece and Greece in the Roman era
Rhodes then became a part of the growing empire of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.
The Colossus of Rhodes, as depicted in an artist's impression of 1880
Following the death of Alexander, his generals (Diadochi) vied for control of the kingdom. Three — Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigonus — succeeded in dividing the kingdom among themselves. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria, and together formed the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance that controlled trade throughout the Aegean in the 3rd century BC.[18]
The city developed into a maritime, commercial and cultural center; its coins circulated nearly everywhere in the Mediterranean. Its famous schools of philosophy, science, literature and rhetoric shared masters with Alexandria: the Athenian rhetorician Aeschines, who formed a school at Rhodes; Apollonius of Rhodes, who wrote about Jason and Medea in the Argonautica; the observations and works of the astronomers Hipparchus and Geminus; and the rhetorician Dionysius Thrax. Its school of sculptors developed, under Pergamese influence, a rich, dramatic style that can be characterized as "Hellenistic Baroque". Agesander of Rhodes, with two other Rhodian sculptors, carved the famous Laocoön group, now in the Vatican Museums, and the large sculptures rediscovered at Sperlonga in the villa of Tiberius, probably in the early Imperial period.[19]
In 305 BC, Antigonus directed his son, Demetrius, to besiege Rhodes in an attempt to break its alliance with Egypt. Demetrius created huge siege engines, including a 180 ft (55 m) battering ram and a siege tower called Helepolis that weighed 360,000 lb (163,293 kg). Despite this engagement, in 304 BC after only one year, he relented and signed a peace agreement, leaving behind a huge store of military equipment. The Rhodians sold the equipment and used the money to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios, the statue since called the Colossus of Rhodes. The Rhodians celebrated in honour of Helios a grand festival, the Halieia.[20]
Throughout the 3rd century BC, Rhodes attempted to secure its independence and commerce, particularly its virtual control over the grain trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Both of these goals depended on none of the three great Hellenistic states achieving dominance. Consequently, the Rhodians pursued a policy of maintaining a balance of power among the Antigonids, Seleucids, and Ptolemies, even if that meant going to war with its traditional ally, Egypt. To this end, they employed their economy and their excellent navy as leverage, which was manned by proverbially the finest sailors in the Mediterranean world: “If we have ten Rhodians, we have ten ships.”[21]
The Rhodians also established their dominance on the shores of Caria across from their island, which became known as the "Rhodian Peraia". It extended roughly from the modern city of Muğla (ancient Mobolla) in the north and Kaunos bordering Lycia in the south, near the present-day Dalyan, Turkey.
Rhodes successfully carried on this policy through the course of the third century BC, an impressive achievement for what was essentially a democratic state. By the end of that period, however, the balance of power was crumbling, as declining Ptolemaic power made Egypt an attractive target for Seleucid ambitions. In 203/2 BC the young and dynamic kings of Antigonid Macedon and Seleucid Asia, Philip V and Antiochus III, agreed to accept—at least temporarily—their respective military ambitions: Philip's campaign in the Aegean and western Anatolia and Antiochus' plan for Egypt. Heading a coalition of small states, the Rhodians checked Philip's navy, but not his superior army. Without a third power to which to turn, the Rhodians (along with ambassadors from Pergamum, Egypt, and Athens) appealed in 201 BC to the Roman Republic.[22][23]
Medieval gate at the Acropolis of LindosSilver drachma of Rhodes, 88/42 BC. Obverse: radiate head of Helios. Reverse: rose, "rhodon" (ῥόδον), the symbol of Rhodes.
Despite being exhausted by the Second Punic War against Hannibal (218–201 BC) the Romans agreed to intervene, still angry over the Macedonian alliance with Carthage that had led to the First Macedonian War from 214 to 205 BC. The Senate saw the appeal from Rhodes and her allies as the opportunity to pressure Philip. The result was the Second Macedonian War (200–196 BC), which Rome won and greatly reduced Macedon's power, prestige, and territory. Rhodian independence was preserved. Rhodian influence in the Aegean was cemented through the organization of the Cyclades into the Second Nesiotic League under Rhodian leadership.
The Romans withdrew from Greece after the end of the conflict, but the resulting power vacuum quickly drew in Antiochus III and subsequently the Romans. The Roman–Seleucid War lasted from 192 to 188 BC with Rome, Rhodes, Pergamon, and other Roman-allied Greek states defeated the Seleucids and their allies, the last Mediterranean power that might even vaguely threaten Roman dominance. Having provided Rome with valuable naval help in her first foray into Asia, the Rhodians were rewarded with territory and enhanced status by the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC).[24] The Romans once again evacuated the east – the Senate preferred clients to provinces – but it was clear that Rome now ruled the Mediterranean and Rhodian autonomy was ultimately dependent upon good relations with them.
Those good graces soon evaporated in the wake of the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). In 169 BC, during the war against Perseus, Rhodes sent Agepolis as ambassador to the consul Quintus Marcius Philippus, and then to Rome in the following year, hoping to turn the Senate against the war.[25]
Rhodes remained scrupulously neutral during the war, but in the view of hostile elements in the Senate she had been a bit too friendly with the defeated King Perseus. Some actually proposed declaring war on the island republic, but this was averted. In 164 BC, Rhodes became a "permanent ally" of Rome, which was essentially a reduction to client state of nominal but meaningless independence. It was said that the Romans ultimately turned against the Rhodians because the islanders were the only people they had encountered who were more arrogant than themselves.
After surrendering its independence, Rhodes became a cultural and educational center for Roman noble families. It was especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as Hermagoras and the unknown author of Rhetorica ad Herennium. At first, the state was an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these were later lost in various machinations of Roman politics. Cassius eventually invaded the island and sacked the city in 43 BC. In the early Imperial period Rhodes became a favorite place for political exiles.[26]
In the 1st century AD, the Emperor Tiberius spent a brief term of exile on Rhodes. By tradition, Paul the Apostle evangelized and helped establish an early Christian church on the island during the first century.[27]
In ancient times there was a Roman saying: "Hic Rhodus, hic salta!"—"Here is Rhodes, jump here!" (as translated from Ancient Greek "Αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ Ῥόδος καὶ πήδημα"), an admonition to prove one's idle boasts by deed, rather than boastful talk. It comes from an Aesop's fable called "The Boasting Traveller" and was cited by Hegel, Marx, and Kierkegaard.
Byzantine period
[edit]
Main article: Byzantine Greece
In 395 with the division of the Roman Empire, the long Byzantine period began for Rhodes. In Late Antiquity, the island was the capital of the Roman province of the Islands, headed by a praeses (hegemon in Greek), and encompassing most of the Aegean islands, with twenty cities. Correspondingly, the island was also the metropolis of the ecclesiastical province of Cyclades, with eleven suffragan sees.[28]
Beginning from ca. 600 AD, its influence in maritime issues was manifested in the collection of maritime laws known as "Rhodian Sea Law" (Nomos Rhodion Nautikos), accepted throughout the Mediterranean and in use throughout Byzantine times (and influencing the development of admiralty law up to the present).[citation needed] In 622/3, during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, Rhodes was captured by the Sasanian navy.[29][30][31]
Rhodes was occupied by the Islamic Umayyad forces of Caliph Muawiyah I in 654, who carried off the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes.[28][32] The island was again captured by the Arabs in 673 as part of their first attack on Constantinople. When their fleet was destroyed by Greek fire before Constantinople and by storms on its return trip, however, the Umayyads evacuated their troops in 679/80 as part of the Byzantine–Umayyad peace treaty.[33] In 715 the Byzantine fleet dispatched against the Arabs launched a rebellion at Rhodes, which led to the installation of Theodosios III on the Byzantine throne.[28][34]
From the early 8th to the 12th centuries, Rhodes belonged to the Cibyrrhaeot Theme of the Byzantine Empire, and was a centre for shipbuilding and commerce.[28] In c. 1090, it was occupied by the forces of the Seljuk Turks, after the long period of chaos resulting from the Battle of Manzikert.[35] Rhodes was recaptured by the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos during the First Crusade.
Part of the late medieval fortifications of Rhodes
As Byzantine central power weakened under the Angeloi emperors (1185–1204), in the first half of the 13th century, Rhodes became the centre of an independent domain under Leo Gabalas and his brother John,[28] until it was occupied by the Genoese in 1248–1250. The Genoese were evicted by the Empire of Nicaea, after which the island became a regular province of the Nicaean state (and after 1261 of the restored Byzantine Empire). In 1305, the island was given as a fief to Andrea Morisco, a Genoese adventurer who had entered Byzantine service.
Crusader and Ottoman rule
[edit]
Further information: Ottoman Greece and Hospitaller Rhodes
Ottoman Janissaries and defending Knights of Saint John at the Siege of Rhodes in 1522, from an Ottoman manuscriptRhodes in the 19th century
In 1306–1310, the Byzantine era of the island's history came to an end when the island was occupied by the Knights Hospitaller.[28] Under the rule of the newly named "Knights of Rhodes", the city was rebuilt into a model of the European medieval ideal. Many of the city's famous monuments, including the Palace of the Grand Master, were built during this period.
Palace of the Grand Master in the city of Rhodes
The walls had been strengthened by the Knights through hiring Italian engineers that used knowledge of ballistics to design defences against gunpowder attacks, and which withstood the attacks of the Sultan of Egypt in 1444, and a siege by the Ottomans under Mehmed II in 1480. Eventually, however, Rhodes fell to the large army of Suleiman the Magnificent in December 1522. The Sultan deployed 400 ships delivering 100,000 men to the island (200,000 in other sources). Against this force the Knights, under Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, had about 7,000 men-at-arms, with an English, Spanish, French, and Italian contingent each defending separate areas and their fortifications. The siege lasted six months, at the end of which the surviving defeated Hospitallers were allowed to withdraw to the Kingdom of Sicily. Despite the defeat, both Christians and Muslims seem to have regarded the conduct of Villiers de L'Isle-Adam as extremely valiant, and the Grand Master was proclaimed a Defender of the Faith by Pope Adrian VI (see Knights of Cyprus and Rhodes). The knights would later move their base of operations to Malta and Gozo.
Rhodes was thereafter a possession of the Ottoman Empire (see Sanjak of Rhodes) for nearly four centuries.
Modern history
[edit]
5 soldi Austrian Levant stamp cancelled in brown RHODUS.[36]Italian landing at Rhodes on May 4, 1912, during the Italo-Turkish WarPalazzo Governale (today the offices of the Prefecture of the Dodecanese), built during the Italian period
In the 19th century the island was populated by ethnic groups from the surrounding nations, including Jews, whose presence goes back 2,300 years.[37] Under Ottoman rule, they generally did fairly well, but discrimination and bigotry occasionally arose. In February 1840, the Jews of Rhodes were falsely accused by the Greek Orthodox community of ritually murdering a Christian boy. This became known as the Rhodes blood libel.
Austria opened a post-office at RHODUS (Venetian name) before 1864,[38] as witnessed by stamps with Franz Joseph's head.
In 1912, Italy seized Rhodes from the Ottomans during the Italo-Turkish War. Being under Italian administration, the island's population was thus spared the "exchange of the minorities" between Greece and Turkey. Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese Islands were assigned to Italy in the Treaty of Ouchy. Although the treaty stipulated that the islands were to be returned to Turkey, the advent of World War I prevented this from happening. Turkey ceded them officially to Italy with the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. It then became the core of their possession of the Isole Italiane dell'Egeo.
Thousands of Italian colonists settled in the island, mainly in the capital "Rodi", while some of them founded farm villages (like "Peveragno Rodio" (1929), "Campochiaro" (1935), "San Marco" (1936) and "Savona" (1938): in 1940 the creation of the "Provincia italiana di Rodi" in the Dodecanese islands was officially proposed. In the late 1930s, Mussolini embarked on a program of Italianization, attempting to make the island of Rhodes a transportation hub that would facilitate the spread of Italian culture in Greece and the Levant. The Fascist program coincided with improvements to infrastructure, building imposing buildings such as the Hotel Rodon, the Puccini Theater and many administrative buildings with master architects such as Armando Bernabiti and Florestano Di Fausto.[39] While the government worked at modernization, they also obliterated many historical buildings that did not match their ideal of a modern society.
The island suffered through many "governors" appointed by the Italian government. As such, in 1938, the "Leggi razziali" (Racial Laws) were passed, mimicking the footsteps of the antisemitic policies promoted in other European countries. All Jews who served in the government, including the military, were forced to resign, school children were forced to abandon their studies, and all commerce that included any dealings with Jews was forbidden.
Following the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, the British attempted to get the Italian garrison on Rhodes to change sides. This was anticipated by the German Army, which succeeded in occupying the island with the Battle of Rhodes. In great measure, the German occupation caused the British failure in the subsequent Dodecanese Campaign.
After September 1943, the Jews were sent to concentration camps. However, the Turkish Consul Selahattin Ülkümen succeeded, at considerable risk to himself and his family, in saving 42 Jewish families, about 200 persons in total, who had Turkish citizenship or were members of Turkish citizens' families.
Indian soldiers taking over a sentry post from a German soldier following the German surrender in 1945
On 8 May 1945, the Germans under Otto Wagener surrendered Rhodes as well as the Dodecanese as a whole to the British, who soon after then occupied the islands as a military protectorate.[40]
At the Paris Peace Treaties, Rhodes, together with the other islands of the Dodecanese, was united with Greece in February 1947. 6,000 Italian colonists were forced to abandon the island and returned to Italy.
Contemporary period
[edit]
In 1949, Rhodes was the venue for negotiations between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, concluding with the 1949 Armistice Agreements. [41]
In 2023, the island was hit by the 2023 Greece wildfires, which forced the largest evacuations in the history of Greece. Nearly 19,000 people had to evacuate.[42]
Geography
[edit]
The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead, 79.7 km (49.5 mi) long and 38 km (24 mi) across at its widest, with a total area of approximately 1,400 km2 (541 sq mi) and a coastline of approximately 220 km (137 mi). Limestone is the main bedrock.[43] The city of Rhodes is located at the northern tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient and modern commercial harbours. The main airport is the Diagoras International Airport (IATA code: RHO), located 14 km (9 mi) to the southwest of the city in Paradisi. The road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts.
Outside the city of Rhodes, the island is dotted with small villages of whitewashed homes and spa resorts, among them Faliraki, Lindos, Kremasti, Haraki, Pefkos, Archangelos, Afantou, Koskinou, Embona (Attavyros), Paradisi, and Trianta (Ialysos).
Rhodes is situated 363 km (226 mi) east-southeast from the Greek mainland, and 18 km (11 mi) from the southern shore of Turkey. Mount Attavyros, at 1,216 m (3,990 ft), is the island's highest point of elevation.
Flora
[edit]
Further information: Natural history of Rhodes
The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine (Pinus brutia) and cypress (Cupressus sempervirens). While the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. Many flowering plants for which the island is named are abundant.
Fauna
[edit]
Further information: Natural history of Rhodes
The Rhodian population of fallow deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005, and to be of urgent conservation concern.[44] In Petaloudes Valley (Greek for "Valley of the Butterflies"), large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months.
Earthquakes
[edit]
Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes; one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes;[45] and one on 26 June 1926.[46]
On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, causing minor damage to a few old buildings and one death.[47]
Climate
[edit]
Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in the Köppen climate classification) with mild winters and hot summers. The South East of the island experiences a significantly warmer climate with Lindos registering a mean annual temperature of around 22.0 °C (71.6 °F),[48] making it the warmest area in Greece.[49][50] The Rhodes International Airport in coastal Paradeisi has never dropped below 1.2 °C (34.2 °F) from 1977 when the station started its operation.[51][52] The old inland Maritsa Airport has dropped as low as −4.0 °C (24.8 °F).[53] The highest temperature ever recorded in Paradeisi was 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) while the highest temperature ever recorded on the island was 43.6 °C (110.5 °F) in Lindos.[54][55] Coastal Rhodes falls in 11a hardiness zone. [56] Moreover, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service, South East Rhodes records the highest mean annual sunshine in Greece with over 3,100 hours.[57]
hideClimate data for Rhodes International Airport, Paradeisi 7 m a.s.l. (1995-2025). Extremes 1977-present
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
21.0
(69.8)
22.6
(72.7)
27.6
(81.7)
29.6
(85.3)
34.6
(94.3)
39.4
(102.9)
38.0
(100.4)
40.2
(104.4)
34.8
(94.6)
33.0
(91.4)
28.0
(82.4)
23.4
(74.1)
40.2
(104.4)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
15.3
(59.5)
15.6
(60.1)
17.3
(63.1)
20.2
(68.4)
24.0
(75.2)
27.9
(82.2)
30.5
(86.9)
30.7
(87.3)
28.2
(82.8)
24.6
(76.3)
20.8
(69.4)
17.1
(62.8)
22.7
(72.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)
13.1
(55.6)
13.2
(55.8)
14.7
(58.5)
17.3
(63.1)
21.0
(69.8)
25.0
(77.0)
27.5
(81.5)
27.8
(82.0)
25.6
(78.1)
22.0
(71.6)
18.1
(64.6)
14.7
(58.5)
20.0
(68.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
10.9
(51.6)
10.8
(51.4)
12.1
(53.8)
14.4
(57.9)
18.0
(64.4)
22.0
(71.6)
24.4
(75.9)
25.0
(77.0)
22.9
(73.2)
19.3
(66.7)
15.4
(59.7)
12.4
(54.3)
17.3
(63.1)
Record low °C (°F)
1.4
(34.5)
1.2
(34.2)
1.8
(35.2)
5.8
(42.4)
11.0
(51.8)
14.4
(57.9)
17.5
(63.5)
21.0
(69.8)
17.0
(62.6)
8.8
(47.8)
6.0
(42.8)
4.0
(39.2)
1.2
(34.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches)
133.4
(5.25)
84.3
(3.32)
57.6
(2.27)
28.4
(1.12)
18.1
(0.71)
2.0
(0.08)
0.8
(0.03)
1.4
(0.06)
7.9
(0.31)
42.0
(1.65)
95.7
(3.77)
138.0
(5.43)
609.6
(24)
Mean monthly sunshine hours
152.2
171.5
233.0
277.1
318.5
370.3
391.6
359.0
307.4
254.9
189.3
150.3
3,175.1
Source: Hellenic National Meteorological Service (Apr 1995-Mar 2025),[58] Infoclimat,[59] Extremes from 1977,[60] Sunshine (Aug 2009-Feb 2025)[61]
showClimate data for Rhodes Airport (Integrated Maritsa and Paradeisi climate normals)
showClimate data for Rhodes Port 4 m a.s.l.
showClimate data for Lindos 65 m a.s.l.
hideSea temperature for Rhodes
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average sea temperature °C (°F)
17.9
(64.2)
17.0
(62.6)
17.1
(62.8)
17.6
(63.7)
20.1
(68.2)
23.4
(74.1)
25.9
(78.6)
27.2
(81.0)
26.7
(80.1)
23.8
(74.8)
20.9
(69.6)
18.8
(65.8)
21.4
(70.5)
Mean daily daylight hours
10.0
11.0
12.0
13.0
14.0
15.0
14.0
13.0
12.0
11.0
10.0
10.0
12.1
Average Ultraviolet index
2
3
5
7
8
10
10
9
7
5
3
2
5.9
Source: Weather Atlas[65]
Detailed map of Rhodes, Kos and nearby landsTopographic map of RhodesAkramitis mountain
Archaeology
[edit]
Fountain square at the ancient site of KameirosMedieval castle of MonolithosKastro Kritinias, Kritinia Castle, The Kastellos
The Colossus of Rhodes was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This giant bronze statue was documented as once standing at the harbour. It was completed in 280 BC and destroyed in an earthquake in 226 BC. No trace of the statue remains today.
Historical sites on the island of Rhodes include the Acropolis of Lindos, the Acropolis of Rhodes with the Temple of Pythian Apollo and an ancient theatre and stadium,[72] ancient Ialysos, ancient Kamiros, the Governor's Palace, Rhodes Old Town (walled medieval city), the Palace of the Grand Masters, Kahal Shalom Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter, the Archaeological Museum, the ruins of the castle of Monolithos, the castle of Kritinia, St. Catherine Hospice and Rhodes Footbridge.
Religion
[edit]
Filerimos Monastery in Ialysos
Christianity
[edit]
The predominant religion of Rhodes is Greek Orthodox; the island is the seat of the Metropolis of Rhodes.
There is a Latin Catholic[73] minority on the island of 2,000, many of whom are descendants of Italians who remained after the end of the Italian occupation, pastorally served by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rhodes.[citation needed]
Islam
[edit]
Main article: Turks of the Dodecanese
Rhodes has a Turkish Muslim minority, which includes Greek Muslims whose ancestors from Crete and the Dodecanese converted to Islam in the Ottoman period. Although a remnant from Ottoman Turkish times they were not required in the population exchange of 1923–24 to resettle in Turkey like the Turkish, Greek, and other Muslim communities living mainly in Macedonia and other parts of Northern Greece because unlike these areas the Dodecanese Islands were under Italian administration at the time. They are organized around the Turkish Association of Rhodes (Turkish: Rodos Türk Derneği), which gives the figure 3,500 for the population they bring together and represent for the island.[74] The number of the Turks in Rhodes could be as many as 4,000.[75][76][77]
Judaism
[edit]
Main article: History of the Jews in Rhodes
See also: Selahattin Ülkümen
The Jewish community of Rhodes[78] goes back 2,300 years.[37] Kahal Shalom Synagogue, established in 1557, during the Ottoman era, is the oldest synagogue in Greece and still stands in the Jewish quarter (La Juderia) of the old town of Rhodes. At its peak in the 1920s, the Jewish community was one-third of the town's total population.[79] In the 1940s, there were about 2000 Jews of various ethnic backgrounds. The Nazis deported and killed most of the community during the Holocaust. Kahal Shalom has been renovated with the help of foreign donors but few Jews live year-round in Rhodes today, so services are not held on a regular basis.[80]
The Jewish Museum of Rhodes was established in 1997 to preserve the Jewish history and culture of the Jews of Rhodes. It is adjacent to the Kahal Shalom Synagogue.
The Congolese businessman and politician, and former governor of Katanga, Moïse Katumbi's father, Nissim Soriano was a Greek Sephardic Jew, who fled Rhodes in 1938, who settled in Katanga, in the Congo, a Belgian colony at the time.[81]
Government
[edit]
View of ArchangelosView of Lindos with the AcropolisView of Embonas and the mountain of AttavyrosSt Paul's Bay, Lindos
The present municipality Rhodes was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 10 former municipalities, that became municipal units (constituent communities in parentheses):[1]
The municipality has an area of 1400.681 km2.[83][failed verification] It covers the island of Rhodes and a few uninhabited offshore islets. Rhodes city was the capital of the former Dodecanese Prefecture. Rhodes is the most populated island of the South Aegean Region.[citation needed]
Towns and villages
[edit]
Rhodes has 43 towns and villages:
Town/Village
Population
Municipal unit
50,636
Rhodes
11,331
6,329
5,476
5,396
4,832
3,679
3,641
3,087
2,667
1,808
1,380
1,278
1,242
1,135
1,004
858
853
845
809
646
582
671
641
627
576
503
502
502
496
465
361
355
323
307
304
291
215
196
181
155
153
152
Economy
[edit]
View of the market (Nea Agora) of Mandraki (Rhodes city), built during the Italian period
The economy is tourist-oriented, and the most developed sector is service. Tourism has elevated Rhodes economically, compared to the rest of Greece.[84]
Small industries process imported raw materials for local retail, though other industry includes agricultural goods production, stockbreeding, fishery and winery.
Transportation
[edit]
Air
[edit]
Diagoras Airport, arrivals terminal
Rhodes has two airports, but only one is public. Diagoras Airport, southwest of Rhodes City, is the fourth biggest by passenger volume in Greece, and the main entrance/exit point to the island for both locals and tourists. The island is well connected with other major Greek cities and islands as well as with major European capitals and cities via charter flights. Until 1977, Rhodes Maritsa Airport, built in 1938, was a public airport; it is now used by the Hellenic Air Force and occasionally for car races.
There are also two inoperative airfields. Kalathos Airfield, north of Lindos, and Kattavia Airstrip, to the south of the island, were built by the Italians during the Second World War. Neither remains operational.
Two pilot schools offer aviation services (small plane rental and island hopping).
Sea
[edit]
Louis Majesty at the harbour of RhodesThe Kameiros Skala Dock
Rhodes has five ports, three of them in Rhodes City, one in the west coast near Kamiros and one in east coast near Lardos.[citation needed]
From Rhodes to Marmaris and Fethiye
[edit]
Road network
[edit]
The road network of the island is mostly paved and consists of 3 national roads plus one planned, 40 provincial and numerous local. These are the four major island arteries:
Future roads:[citation needed]
Bus
[edit]
Bus services are handled by two operators:[89]
Cars and motorbikes
[edit]
Families in Rhodes often own more than one car, along with a motorbike. Traffic jams are common particularly in the summer months as vehicles more than double while parking spots downtown and around the old town are limited and can't cope with demand. Moreover, the island is served by 450 taxis and some 200 public and private buses adding to the traffic burden.
Sports
[edit]
Diagoras Stadium in the city of Rhodes
Cuisine
[edit]
Pitaroudia, a traditional chickpea dumpling from Rhodes and DodecaneseFanouropitaMelekouni
Rhodian tradition in cuisine is rich. Koriantolino and Souma (colorless alcoholic beverage produced from grape distillation) are the main alcoholic drinks of Rhodes. Local foods include:
Notable people
[edit]
Head of HipparchusPanaetius, from Nuremberg Chronicle
and
Sport
[edit]
Diagoras of Rhodes carried in the stadium by his two sons
Tourism
[edit]
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Rhodes is one of the most attractive tourist destinations in Greece. After Crete, the island is the most visited destination in Greece, with arrivals standing at 1,785,305 in 2013. In 2014 they stood at 1,931,005, while in 2015 the arrival number reduced slightly and stood at 1,901,000.[citation needed] The average length of stay is estimated at 8 days. Guests from Great Britain, Israel, France, Italy, Sweden and Norway constitute the biggest portion in terms of the arrivals by country. In Rhodes, the supply of available rooms is high, since more than 550 hotels are operating in the island, the majority of which are two star hotels.
In popular culture
[edit]
Panoramas
[edit]
Rhodes harbor in 2017Rhodes panorama in 2017
See also
[edit]
Citations
[edit]
General and cited sources
[edit]
External links
[edit]
Rhodesat Wikipedia's sister projects
show
show
Administrative division of the South Aegean Region
show
Subdivisions of the municipality of Rhodes
show
show
Landmarks of Rhodes
show
hide
Phoenician cities and colonies
Algeria
Rusubbicari (Zemmouri El Bahri)
Cyprus
Greece
Rhodes
Israel
Italy
Lebanon
Libya
Malta
Maleth (Cospicua)
Morocco
Heq she Elisha (Ksar es-Seghir)
Portugal
Portus Magonis (Portimão)
Spain
Syria
Tunisia
Other
show
Journeys of Paul the Apostle
show
Ko Chang is an island paradise with jungle-covered mountains, sparkling blue bays, vibrant coral reefs, and cascading waterfalls. It’s the second-largest island in Thailand so there is a lot of space to move around and get away from the crowds that flock here.
Ko Chang (Thai: เกาะช้าง, pronounced [kɔ̀ʔ t͡ɕʰáːŋ]) is an amphoe (district) in Trat province, Thailand. It is on the Gulf of Thailand's eastern seaboard, 300 km (190 mi) from Bangkok, near the border with Cambodia.[1]
The island Ko Chang occupies most of the district's land area, along with several smaller islands. With an area of 210 km2 (81 sq mi), Ko Chang is the third-largest island in Thailand by area, after Phuket and Ko Samui.[2] The name Ko Chang means 'Elephant Island' and derives from its elephant-shaped headland. Despite the presence of elephants on the island, they are not indigenous. At present, there are eight villages on the island.[1]
History
[edit]
Plaque commemorating the Ko Chang battle
Prior to World War II, Ko Chang was little known. During this period, the few families there made a living growing coconuts and fruits.[citation needed]
On 17 January 1941, Ko Chang was the scene of the Battle of Ko Chang between the Royal Thai Navy and a much stronger Vichy French naval squadron, in which the French won a decisive victory. Ko Chang Yutthanawi Day, which occurs in late-January at the Ko Chang Yutthanawi Memorial on Laem Ngop, commemorates the Royal Thai Navy's engagement against the French colonialists. There is an exhibition by the Royal Thai Navy, and merit-making and tribute rites are performed for those killed in the battle.[citation needed]
Geography
[edit]
Ko Chang is part of an archipelago of 52 islands. It is approximately 30 km (19 mi) long by 14 km (8.7 mi) wide. It is part of the Mu Ko Chang National Park, which covers an area of 650 km2 (250 sq mi), of which 70 percent is offshore.[1]
It is a mountainous island, with Khao Salak Phet being the highest peak at 744 m (2,441 ft). The island is known for several waterfalls, coral reefs, and rainforests.
The main settlements on the west coast are around Sai Khao, Hat Kai Mook, Hat Kai Bae, Ban Klong Prao and the fishing village of Bang Bao on the south coast. The island's administrative centre is Ban Dan Mai on the east coast.
Climate
[edit]
Most of Thailand receives between 1,200 mm (47 in) and 1,600 mm (63 in) of precipitation per year. Two provinces, Trat and Ranong, receive more than 4,500 mm (180 in) a year, making them the wettest places in the country.[3]
Wildlife
[edit]
Ko Chang is home to populations of 29 species of mammals, for example, the stump-tailed macaque, the small Indian civet, the small Asian mongoose, 61 bird species, and a number of snakes and deer.
The Ko Chang frog (Limnonectes kohchangae) was originally thought to be an endemic species, but has also been found on the mainland.
Administration
[edit]
The island forms a district (amphoe) in the province of Trat. It was formed on 30 April 1994, when it was split off from Laem Ngop district, at first being classed as a minor district (king amphoe).[4] On 15 May 2007, the nation's 81 minor districts were upgraded to full districts.[5] With publication in the Royal Gazette on 24 August, the upgrade became official.[6]
Ko Chang district is divided into two sub-districts (tambons) which are home to nine villages (mubans):
1. Ko Chang (Thai: เกาะช้าง), consisting of four villages with 3,010 inhabitants:
2. Ko Chang Tai (Thai: เกาะช้างใต้), consisting of five villages with 2,346 inhabitants:
Transport
[edit]
Air
[edit]
Ko Chang has no airport. The nearest airport is Trat Airport[7] 17 km (11 mi) from the Ao Thammachat Ko Chang ferry terminal on the mainland.
Road
[edit]
There are two main roads on Ko Chang, running the length of the east and west coasts. Both roads start at Ao Sapparot in the north, near the ferry piers. Shorter roads branch out to Ploytalay Resort and Keereephet, Khlong Nueng, and Klong Phu waterfalls.
The nearest long-distance road transport is at Trat town, from where the 300 km (190 mi) journey to Bangkok takes five hours by bus.
Boat
[edit]
There are two ferry companies that run services from the mainland to Ko Chang. Both take vehicles and passengers. During high season, from November to May, there are passenger-only boat services from Ko Chang to the outlying islands of Ko Wai, Ko Mak, and Ko Kut. Boats do not run to outlying islands all year. They stop August / September times due to big seas and low season.
Economy
[edit]
Ko Chang's income derives largely from tourism, but some traditional livelihoods still exist. Many of Ko Chang's villages rely on fishing, with Ban Salak Phet (Thai: บ้านสลักเพชร) being the largest and oldest community on Ko Chang, in a sheltered location in the south of the island. Other fishing villages include Bang Bao (Thai: หมู่บ้านประมงบางเบ้า), at Bang Bao Beach, which consists of houses on stilts built into the sea, and Ban Khlong Son, which also partly relies on rubber plantations. Ban Dan Mai and Ban Khlong Non Si also have coconut plantations, and orchards of lychee trees. The variety of lychee grown, Silaman 200 years, is believed to be found only on Ko Chang.
The first foreign backpackers started arriving on Ko Chang in the mid-1970s, using local fishing boats, when the island was still undeveloped. In 2019 tourism is the island's biggest earner. In 1982, Ko Chang along with the surrounding area became part of the protected Mu Ko Chang National Park, with approximately 85 percent of the island, together with nearby coral reefs, falling within the park.[8]
In 2020, an American tourist was arrested for posting negative feedback about his experience at a hotel in Ko Chang.[9] While the tourist was released from prison after apologizing, TripAdvisor, for the first time ever, placed a warning to prospective customers on the hotel's TripAdvisor page, regarding the incident.[10]
Gallery
[edit]
Tropical rainforest in the interior
Sunset on the west side
Parties in the Lonely Beach
Hat Khlong Phrao Beach
Khlong Phlu Waterfall
Baan Salak Petch Pier
References
[edit]
External links
[edit]
hide
Authority control databases: National
This island is called a "miniature continent" due to the different climates and variety of landscapes found, with long beaches and dunes of white sand, contrasting with green ravines and picturesque villages. A third of the island is under protection as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
The number of annual visitors was 3.6 million in 2014 (of which 450.000 Spaniards). It is the second island in the archipelago in number of annual tourists, after Tenerife. Most of the tourists visit the southern part of the island. The north tends to be cooler, while the south is warmer and sunny. The east coast of the island is flat, dotted with beaches, while the western coast is rockier and mountainous.
The island possesses 32 Natural Protected Spaces, notably the Rural Park of Nublo, The Doramas Jungle, the Azuaje Ravine, Tamadaba, Pino Santo, etc.
In the south there is a large bird park, Palmitos Park, as well as many beach resort communities. Resorts are concentrated in the central eastern part of the southern coast in the Maspalomas area, which includes the towns of San Agustín, Playa del Inglés and Meloneras. The Maspalomas Dunes are located between Playa del Inglés ("The Englishman's Beach") and the distinctive 19th century Maspalomas lighthouse. Playa del Ingles is home to the Yumbo Centre, which was opened in 1982 and has almost 200 shops, including bars, restaurants, cafes, fashion boutiques, electronic outlets and jewellery stores.
In Tarajalillo, an Aeroclub exists from where tourist flights can be taken over the island.
Still further to the west along the southern shore, in the Municipality of Mogán, are the communities of Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán, a village referred to as "Little Venice" on account of its many canals.
Other attractions include Cocodrilos Park, Roque Nublo (an 80 m monolith), Cenobio de Valerón with more than 350 storage cavities, Painted cave of Galdar the most important archaeological park in Canary Islands, or the botanical gardens Jardín Canario (in Tafira Alta) and Cactualdea (in La Aldea de San Nicolás).
El Dedo de Dios, or "God's Finger", was a rocky spire jutting from the sea in Puerto de las Nieves, and was previously the signature attraction of the Canary Islands until it was destroyed by tropical storm Delta that crossed the archipelago in November 2005.
Other well-known rock formations are El Cura (also known as El Fraile), The Frog (La Rana), Roque Bentayga, the Roque de Gando, and the Peñón Bermejo. Traditionally, the highest peak of the island has been considered to be the Pico de las Nieves, at 1,949 metres (6,394 ft); however, Morro de la Agujereada is taller, at 1,956 metres (6,417 ft).
The capital city is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Canteras beach, a protected area and diving zone, lies in the heart of the city. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is also known for its annual carnaval. It was the first stop of Christopher Columbus' expedition on his way back from the Americas, a commemoration of which is the Hermitage of San Antonio Abad, where the navigator prayed, and the Casa de Colón. Other attractions in the capital city include the Museo Canario (the most important archaeology museum in the archipelago), the cathedral and the Plaza del Espíritu Santo. In Teror the shrine of Virgen del Pino ("Virgin of the Pine"), patron saint of Gran Canaria, can be found. Its feast is celebrated on 8 September.
The town of Agüimes, on the eastern part of the island, has been carefully restored and its town centre, centered on its old church and a peaceful square, now evokes the quiet living of a traditional Canarian town. The district also has some of the best preserved cave dwellings, in the protected area of the Guayadeque ravine, where even the church has been built into the mountainside and visitors can find a number of popular cave restaurants. The district also includes the most renowned scuba diving area on the island: the marine reserve at the playa de El Cabrón just outside the town of Arinaga.
Other important towns are Telde, known among other things for their surf schools in Salinetas, Vecindario (within the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana) and Gáldar, that contains an important diving zone. In Arucas there is a Neogothic temple, popularly known as "Arucas' Cathedral", as well as a large fertile plain where bananas are grown. In Gáldar and its surroundings there is also a banana-growing plain and some remarkable archaeological remains, such as the Painted cave of Galdar or the cenobio de Valerón's communal silos, ancient tombs (among which the necropolis of Maipés), and the port of Sardina del Norte (one of the island's ports where, as in Las Palmas', Christopher Columbus used to get supplies for his ships).
Heading west along the southern coast is the fishing city of Arguineguín in the Municipality of Mogán.
Gran Canaria (UK: /ˌɡræn kəˈnɛəriə, -ˈnɑːr-/, US: /ˌɡrɑːn kəˈnɑːriə, -ˈnɛər-/;[2][3] Spanish: [ɡɾaŋ kaˈnaɾja] ⓘ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands,[4] a Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. As of 2023 the island had a population of 862,893 that constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital of the island, is the largest city of the Canary Islands and the ninth-largest of Spain.
Gran Canaria is located in the Atlantic Ocean in a region known as Macaronesia about 150 kilometres (93 mi) off the northwestern coast of Africa and about 1,350 km (840 mi) from Europe.[5] With an area of 1,560 km2 (600 sq mi)[6] and an altitude of 1,956 m (6,417 ft) at Morro de la Agujereada, Gran Canaria is the third largest island of the archipelago in both area and altitude. Gran Canaria is also the third most populated island in Spain.[7]
History
[edit]
In antiquity, Gran Canaria was populated by the North African Canarii, who may have arrived as early as 500 BC.[8]
In the medieval period, after over a century of European incursions and attempts at conquest, the island was conquered on 29 April 1483, by the Crown of Castile, under Queen Isabella I. The Canarian queen Abenchara was captured and imprisoned by the Spanish during the conquest. The conquest succeeded after a war that lasted five years, and it was an important step towards the expansion of the unified Spain.
The capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was founded on 24 June 1478, under the name "Real de Las Palmas", by Juan Rejón, head of the invading Castilian army. In 1492, Christopher Columbus anchored in the Port of Las Palmas (and spent some time on the island) on his first trip to the Americas. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is, jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Much of Iberian migration to the island consisted of conversos of Jewish origin.[9]
On 27 March 1977, a bomb went off in Gran Canaria Airport, the main airport on the island. Flights were diverted to the nearby Tenerife Airport: this led to the Tenerife airport disaster.[10]
Etymology
[edit]
Pliny claimed that the island was named for the dogs on the island, of which two were presented as a gift to Juba, King of Mauretania.[11] This opinion is disputed as when the Europeans arrived on the island, no dogs were found.[11] Another source suggested the way the natives ate fish was doglike and this was the reason for its name.[11] A more plausible assumption is that the island's name derives from the people Canario or Canarii living near the Atlas mountain range.[12] Jean de Béthencourt named the island Gran Canaria as the people on the island were valorous opponents to his conquest.[12]
Geography
[edit]
Topography of Gran CanariaGran Canaria 3D
Gran Canaria is located in the Canary Islands archipelago southeast of Tenerife and west of Fuerteventura. The island is of volcanic origin, mostly made of fissure vents. It has a round shape, with a diameter of approximately 50 km (31 mi) and a surface area of 1,560 km2 (600 sq mi). Gran Canaria's maximum elevation is 1,956 metres (6,417 ft) at Morro de la Agujereada, although the nearby Pico de las Nieves has traditionally been considered the island's tallest peak. The coastline measures 236 km.
Geology
[edit]
About 80% of the volume of the island was formed during the Miocene period eruptions, between 14 and 9 million years ago.[13] This is called the "Old Cycle" and is estimated to have lasted some 200,000 years and have emitted about 1,000 km3 (240 cu mi), mostly of fissural alkali basalt. This cycle continued with the emission of trachytes, phonolites and peralkaline rocks.[14] This period was followed by one of erosion, which lasted some 4 million years.[15]
A second cycle of volcanic eruptions, known as the "Roque Nublo cycle", took place between 4.5 and 3.4 million years ago. This shorter cycle emitted about 100 km3 (24 cu mi). Most of the inland peaks were formed by erosion from these materials. This period also started with fissural basalts, but ended with violent eruptions of pyroclastic flows. Some phonolitic features, like the Risco Blanco, were also formed in its last stages.[15]
The third or recent cycle is held to have started some 2.8 million years ago and is considered to be still active. The last eruptions are held to have occurred some 2000 years ago.[16]
The changes in volume and, therefore, weight of the island have also caused the island to rise above the previous sea level during erosive periods and to sink during eruptive periods. Some of these "fossil beaches" can be seen in the cliff faces of the more eroded northern coast.[17]
Nature of Gran Canaria along the eastern shore in 2016
Nature of Gran Canaria along the southeastern shore in 2016
Climate
[edit]
According to the Köppen climate classification, Gran Canaria is considered to have a hot desert climate (BWh) due to its severe lack of precipitation. Gran Canaria has consistent warm temperatures in spring, summer and autumn, and mild winters. Gran Canaria is noted for its rich variety of microclimates. Generally speaking though, the average daytime high ranges from 20 °C (68 °F) in winter to 26 °C (79 °F) in summer. Some cool nights occur in winter, but lows below 10 °C (50 °F) are unknown near the coast. Inland the climate is still mild but mountainous areas see the occasional frost or snow. Annual rainfall averages 228 mm (9.0 in), most of this falling in the cooler months, with July, August and September normally rainless. Rainfall is unevenly distributed through the island with some areas being much drier than others. Cloud cover and sunshine is often quite variable during the cooler months, and there can be several rather cloudy days at times in winter. Summers are generally quite sunny however, with the south of the island being most favoured.
hideClimate data for Gran Canaria Airport (1981–2010 normals, 1951-2022 extremes), altitude: 32 m (105 ft)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
29.5
(85.1)
30.9
(87.6)
34.0
(93.2)
34.3
(93.7)
36.0
(96.8)
36.9
(98.4)
44.2
(111.6)
39.0
(102.2)
39.0
(102.2)
36.0
(96.8)
36.2
(97.2)
29.4
(84.9)
44.2
(111.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)
20.8
(69.4)
21.2
(70.2)
22.3
(72.1)
22.6
(72.7)
23.6
(74.5)
25.3
(77.5)
26.9
(80.4)
27.5
(81.5)
27.2
(81.0)
26.2
(79.2)
24.2
(75.6)
22.2
(72.0)
24.2
(75.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)
17.9
(64.2)
18.2
(64.8)
19.0
(66.2)
19.4
(66.9)
20.4
(68.7)
22.2
(72.0)
23.8
(74.8)
24.6
(76.3)
24.3
(75.7)
23.1
(73.6)
21.2
(70.2)
19.2
(66.6)
21.1
(70.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)
15.0
(59.0)
15.0
(59.0)
15.7
(60.3)
16.2
(61.2)
17.3
(63.1)
19.2
(66.6)
20.8
(69.4)
21.6
(70.9)
21.4
(70.5)
20.1
(68.2)
18.1
(64.6)
16.2
(61.2)
18.1
(64.5)
Record low °C (°F)
8.0
(46.4)
7.5
(45.5)
6.5
(43.7)
9.0
(48.2)
11.3
(52.3)
12.0
(53.6)
14.8
(58.6)
16.0
(60.8)
14.6
(58.3)
14.0
(57.2)
7.0
(44.6)
9.7
(49.5)
6.5
(43.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches)
25
(1.0)
24
(0.9)
13
(0.5)
6
(0.2)
1
(0.0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
9
(0.4)
16
(0.6)
22
(0.9)
31
(1.2)
151
(5.9)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)
3
3
2
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
4
5
21
Average relative humidity (%)
65
66
64
64
65
66
65
66
68
69
67
68
66
Mean monthly sunshine hours
184
191
229
228
272
284
308
300
241
220
185
179
2,821
Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología[18][19]
Vegetation
[edit]
Until the conquest, Gran Canaria had extensive forests, but then suffered extensive deforestation[20] as a result of continuous logging, land divisions and other intensive uses. This reduced the forest cover to just 56,000 hectares (140,000 acres),[20] making the island the most deforested of the Canary Islands.[21] However, in the twentieth century reforestation of the ridge of the island was begun, recovering some of the lost forest mass. Much of the summit of the island is forested mostly due to reforestation.[20]
Governance
[edit]
Municipalities of Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands (Islas Canarias). It lies within the Province of Las Palmas, a Spanish province which consists of the eastern part of the Canary Islands community. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is the provincial capital, one of the two capitals of the Canary Islands along with Santa Cruz de Tenerife.[22]
The island of Gran Canaria is governed by the Cabildo insular de Gran Canaria.[23] Gran Canaria Island itself is divided into twenty-one smaller municipalities:[22]
Name
Area
(km2)
Census Population
Estimated
Population
(2023)[24]
2001[25]
2011[26]
2021[27]
45.50
5,202
5,735
5,692
5,593
79.28
20,124
29,641
32,320
32,797
66.70
1,319
1,252
1,049
1,036
33.01
32,466
36,771
38,559
38,655
15.77
6,865
7,607
7,526
7,701
61.59
22,154
24,358
24,493
24,728
38.15
24,439
30,022
31,856
32,356
172.44
12,444
22,847
20,527
20,938
31.87
8,137
8,043
7,841
7,887
123.58
7,668
8,522
7,518
7,523
100.55
354,863
381,271
380,667
380,863
333.13
34,515
53,440
53,429
54,668
23.81
17,598
18,878
18,272
18,598
61.56
47,652
66,725
73,921
76,418
Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria
42.59
13,893
14,149
13,886
13,971
103.30
2,400
2,136
1,874
1,846
102.43
87,949
101,080
103,175
103,240
25.70
12,042
12,857
12,683
12,831
22.11
3,949
3,896
3,779
3,766
39.15
7,964
9,118
9,416
9,693
37.89
6,979
7,737
7,655
7,785
Totals
1,560.11
730,622
846,085
856,137
862,893
The island has a population at the start of 2023 of 862,893 - with 380,863 of those in the capital city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife.[28]
Transportation
[edit]
Roads
[edit]
Autopistas in Gran Canaria provide rapid road transport around the coastA Gran Canaria busGran Canaria AirportThe Tenerife catamaran ferry
Gran Canaria has roads encircling the whole island and extending into the mountain areas. In the late 20th century, its dual carriageway, among the first in the Canary Islands, were opened and run around Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and were later extended to the north coast and the airport and subsequently to the south coast in response to increased tourist traffic. The only highway of Gran Canaria are GC1. Dual carriageway is GC2, and GC31, GC4 and GC5. The western and the north-western parts, with the fewest inhabitants, are linked only with main roads.
Buses
[edit]
Public transport around Gran Canaria is provided by an extensive bus network, known in the local dialect as guaguas. The Autoridad Única del Transporte de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria Transport Authority, TGC) manages the network and operates a number of bus stations across the island, including San Telmo and Santa Catalina bus stations in Las Palmas, Maspalomas and Galdar.[29] Bus tickets may be purchased with cash, and AUTGC also operates a contactless electronic ticket called the TransGC Card, which is valid across the whole network.[30]
Inter-urban bus services across the island are operated by the Global bus company.[31][32] Global was created in 2000 after the merger of two bus companies, Utinsa (which operated in the north of the island) and Salcai (the bus operator for the south).[33] Local bus services in Las Palmas are run by the municipal bus company, Guaguas Municipales de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.[34]
Airport
[edit]
Gran Canaria Airport (IATA: LPA) is the only commercial airport on the island. The large number of aircraft and passengers passing through it each year make it one of the busiest in Spain. Gran Canaria is also responsible for all air traffic control in the Canaries. By destination island, Gran Canaria is the second island that congregates the largest number of passengers in the Canary Islands.[35] Car rental companies that have offices in the airports are: Autoreisen, Avis, Cicar, Europcar, Goldcar (only south airport), Hertz, Sixt and TopCar.
Sea ports
[edit]
The most important ports in the island are the Port of Las Palmas (Puerto de la Luz), in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria; Arguineguín, which exports cement from a large factory; and Arinaga, located in the main industrial zone of Canaries and one of the major ones of Spain.
The main passenger ports are the Port of La Luz, where Trasmediterránea operates a weekly ferry route to Cádiz on the Spanish mainland,[36] and the Port of Las Nieves, located in Agaete on the west side of the island, where Fred Olsen Express operates a catamaran ferry service to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.[37]
Rail
[edit]
Plans for a Tren de Gran Canaria railway network linking the capital with the south have been approved by both the Gran Canaria Cabildo and the autonomous Canary Islands' Government, though the discussion with the central Spanish Government hinges now on budget. The planned 57 km (35 mi) railway line would run between Las Palmas and Meloneras, with the section in the capital running entirely underground as far as the suburb of Jinámar. The line is planned to have 11 stations, including an underground station at Gran Canaria Airport. The scheme was first announced in 2009, with a planned operational date in 2015. A public company called Ferrocarriles de Gran Canaria has been formed by the Cabildo's Gran Canaria Transport Authority. Plans were still being discussed in 2018.[38][39]
Agriculture
[edit]
Gran Canaria agriculture is unique among the Canaries islands in that it was traditionally dominated by plantations, with much of these being grains as well as sugarcane, rather than by stock-breeding.[40] The caves of Valerón (a property of cultural interest in the "archaeological site" category) in the municipality of Santa María de Guía bears testimony of it by being the largest pre-Hispanic collective granary of the Canaries.
Tourism
[edit]
Puerto de MogánMaspalomas Lighthouse at the southern end of the islandRoque Nublo in the interior of the island
This island is called a "miniature continent" due to the different climates and variety of landscapes found, with long beaches and dunes of white sand, contrasting with green ravines and picturesque villages.[41] A third of the island is under protection as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
The number of annual visitors was 3.6 million in 2014 (of which 450.000 Spaniards).[42] It is the second island in the archipelago in number of annual tourists, after Tenerife.[43] Most of the tourists visit the southern part of the island. The north tends to be cooler, while the south is warmer and sunny. The east coast of the island is flat, dotted with beaches, while the western coast is rockier and mountainous.
The island possesses 32 Natural Protected Spaces,[44] notably the Rural Park of Nublo, The Doramas Jungle, the Azuaje Ravine, Tamadaba, Pino Santo, etc.
In the south there is a large bird park, Palmitos Park, as well as many beach resort communities. Resorts are concentrated in the central eastern part of the southern coast in the Maspalomas area, which includes the towns of San Agustín, Playa del Inglés and Meloneras. The Maspalomas Dunes are located between Playa del Inglés ("The Englishman's Beach") and the distinctive 19th century Maspalomas lighthouse. Playa del Ingles is home to the Yumbo Centre,[45] which was opened in 1982 and has almost 200 shops, including bars, restaurants, cafes, fashion boutiques, electronic outlets and jewellery stores.
In Tarajalillo, an Aeroclub exists from where tourist flights can be taken over the island.
Still further to the west along the southern shore, in the Municipality of Mogán, are the communities of Puerto Rico and Puerto de Mogán, a village referred to as "Little Venice" on account of its many canals.
Other attractions include Cocodrilos Park, Roque Nublo (an 80 m monolith), Cenobio de Valerón with more than 350 storage cavities, Painted cave of Galdar the most important archaeological park in Canary Islands, or the botanical gardens Jardín Canario (in Tafira Alta) and Cactualdea (in La Aldea de San Nicolás).
El Dedo de Dios, or "God's Finger", was a rocky spire jutting from the sea in Puerto de las Nieves, and was previously the signature attraction of the Canary Islands until it was destroyed by tropical storm Delta that crossed the archipelago in November 2005.[46]
Other well-known rock formations are El Cura (also known as El Fraile), The Frog (La Rana), Roque Bentayga, the Roque de Gando, and the Peñón Bermejo. Traditionally, the highest peak of the island has been considered to be the Pico de las Nieves, at 1,949 metres (6,394 ft); however, Morro de la Agujereada is taller, at 1,956 metres (6,417 ft).
The capital city is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Canteras beach, a protected area and diving zone, lies in the heart of the city. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is also known for its annual carnaval. It was the first stop of Christopher Columbus' expedition on his way back from the Americas,[47] a commemoration of which is the Hermitage of San Antonio Abad, where the navigator prayed, and the Casa de Colón. Other attractions in the capital city include the Museo Canario (the most important archaeology museum in the archipelago), the cathedral and the Plaza del Espíritu Santo. In Teror the shrine of Virgen del Pino ("Virgin of the Pine"), patron saint of Gran Canaria, can be found. Its feast is celebrated on 8 September.
The town of Agüimes, on the eastern part of the island, has been carefully restored and its town centre, centered on its old church and a peaceful square, now evokes the quiet living of a traditional Canarian town. The district also has some of the best preserved cave dwellings, in the protected area of the Guayadeque ravine, where even the church has been built into the mountainside and visitors can find a number of popular cave restaurants. The district also includes the most renowned scuba diving area on the island: the marine reserve at the playa de El Cabrón just outside the town of Arinaga.
Other important towns are Telde, known among other things for their surf schools in Salinetas, Vecindario (within the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana) and Gáldar, that contains an important diving zone. In Arucas there is a Neogothic temple, popularly known as "Arucas' Cathedral", as well as a large fertile plain where bananas are grown. In Gáldar and its surroundings there is also a banana-growing plain and some remarkable archaeological remains,[48] such as the Painted cave of Galdar or the cenobio de Valerón's communal silos, ancient tombs (among which the necropolis of Maipés), and the port of Sardina del Norte (one of the island's ports where, as in Las Palmas', Christopher Columbus used to get supplies for his ships).
Heading west along the southern coast is the fishing city of Arguineguín in the Municipality of Mogán.
Natural symbols
[edit]
Main article: List of animal and plant symbols of the Canary Islands
The official natural symbols associated with Gran Canaria are the Canary Mastiff and Euphorbia canariensis (Cardón)[49]
Canary Mastiff.Euphorbia canariensis.
Beaches
[edit]
Protected natural areas
[edit]
The "Dunas de Maspalomas", in southern Gran CanariaPinus canariensis forest in Tamadaba Natural Park
Nearly half of the island territory — 667 km2 (258 sq mi) (42.7% of island) — is under protection from the Red Canaria de Espacios Naturales Protegidos (Canary Islands Network for Protected Natural Areas). Of the 146 protected sites under control of network in the Canary Islands archipelago,[50] a total of 33 are located in Gran Canaria, the second most protected island in the group. [51] There are seven different categories of protection:
Music
[edit]
Science and technology
[edit]
Gran Canaria space tracking station
In the 1960s, Gran Canaria was selected as the location for one of the 14 ground stations in the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) to support the NASA space program. Maspalomas Station, located in the south of the island, took part in a number of space missions including the Apollo 11 Moon landings and Skylab. Today it continues to support satellite communications as part of the ESA network.[52]
Sports
[edit]
2014 game between Herbalife Gran Canaria and Unicaja.
The island is home to CB Gran Canaria – a basketball club playing in Liga ACB at the Gran Canaria Arena, with a capacity of 11,000. The island is also home to UD Las Palmas – a football club playing in La Liga at the Estadio de Gran Canaria, with a capacity of 32,392. Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) holds its annual competitions at Pozo - Pozo Izquierdo: This spot, which is situated in the municipal area of Santa Lucía, is internationally famous on account of the ideal windsurfing conditions, the wind being ever present.
See also
[edit]
Bibliography
[edit]
Geology of Gran Canaria
[edit]
References
[edit]
External links
[edit]
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