Rhodes

Cities of the Crusades

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Human settlement on Rhodes can be traced back to the Neolithic period, but the first major signs of civilization come from the Minoan period after the 16th century BCE. Control of Rhodes changed hands several times over the centuries: Achaeans, Dorians, Persians, Athenians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, Rome, and more. Rhodes is most famous for a massive statue of the sun god, Helios, known as the Colossus of Rhodes.

Cities of the Crusades: Rhodes
Rhodes, undated drawing	Rhodes Fortress, 1915
Rhodes Fortress Entrance, 1915	Rhodes - Castle Lindos, 1915
Hospitallers Defend Rhodes

Christianity was introduced to Rhodes by Paul and the island was incorporated into the Byzantine empire in 297 CE. Throughout the Byzantine period Rhodes was attacked by various sides, both Muslim and Christian. Muawiyah I raided Rhodes in 653, taking away the remaining pieces of the Colossus to sell as scrap metal, and he finally occupied the island in 672.

Byzantine rule was finally ended in 1309 - not by Muslims but by the Knights Hospitaller who had been forced to flee the mainland. They renamed themselves the Knights of Rhodes, expanded and island's fortifications, and used it as a base of operations for Christian attacks on Muslim territory in the Holy Land. The Hospitallers are able to turn back Muslim attacks in 1444 and 1480, but Suleiman the Magnificent is able to capture the island in 1523. Those who survived the attack were permitted to move their base of operations to Malta, where they renamed themselves the Knights of Malta.