We awoke in the port of Rhodes and disembarked shortly after 7:30 am this morning. Our driver took us along the medieval walls of the city and past the site where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood guarding the harbor. The first stop we made was at Philermos, perched upon a hill and site of a Byzantine church and Gothic monastery. The mosaics on the walls of the monastery were as beautiful as the view of the island and Mediterranean Sea below. Our tour continued down to the medieval city of Rhodes and the magnificent Grand Master's Palace. Surrounded by thick fortification walls and a dry moat, the Grand Master's Palace provided the Order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem protection from the invading army if Saladin. Only when one knight was bribed (with an enormous amount of money) did the palace fall and the Knights retreated to Malta.
After a stroll down the Way of the Knights, we had the whole afternoon free to explore Rhodes. The ship was docked a short distance from the old city, so it was easy to go back to the ship for lunch and return to the shops with plenty of time to spare before All Aboard at 5:30 pm. As we cruised towards the island of Crete, the sun slipped below the horizon in red, gold and orange hues.
No comments:
Post a Comment