The ports of ancient Rhodes

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

In 408 BC with the settlement of the three cities of Lindos, Ialyssos and Kamiros was created in the northern part of the island, the city of Rhodes. After the campaign of. Alexander and the foundation of Alexandria in 331 BC, the city - state of Rhodes, reason and its geographic location and the Navy he became one of the most important commercial centers of the Mediterranean. Democratic and neutral, between the monarchies of M. Alexander's successors, continues to rise until the first decades of the 2nd BC century.

Ancient Rhodes had a total of 7 ports, their position was such that they can be treated all weather conditions protecting the fleet and at the same time served as transport and trade in from all directions.

Κυκλικό Νεώριο

The broader and more colorful description for the ports of Rhodes is located on Aelius Aristides, sophist and rhetorician of the 2nd century AD The text certainly refers to an earlier period, the period of naval of Rhodes, in the Hellenistic period.

"As you enter immediately appear harbors so many and of such size, spreading to the sea stone piers by accepting vessels from Ionia and Caria, Egypt, Cyprus and Phoenicia, as being intended each to receive ships from different town, not close to the ports are the dockyards (dockyard warships, arcades near the port where kept utensils and objects of warships) as there were any, when the Rhodians were thalassocrats ... "

On ports and port facilities of Rhodes, Strabo in Geographica observes the following:

"The city of Rhodes is located on the eastern cape of the island. It stands out so much with ports, roads, walls and other structures, so I can not find another similar course of any of the best ... From the dockyards some are hidden and forbidden to many. Punishable by death whoever the spy or get in ... "

The northernmost port the "Little Limin 'in today Mandraki was the military port which was closed with chains and was separated from the rest of the city, while at the forbidden with death penalty facilities the entry of foreigners. Further south there was the "Limin Grand", the largest and most organized port since ancient times until today, while further south was the port "Acadia" as it was called in medieval times, which used to moor ships when there was overcrowding in other ports.

It is worth noting that in ancient times the coast penetrated further inland than today and port facilities spread out along it. Thus, the capacity of ports was much larger than the current.