Rhodes, one of the Mediterranean’ s most beautiful islands, lies in the southernmost part of the Aegean Sea, very close to the shore of Asia Minor. The ancient Greeks were so taken with its charms that they associated its beneficent with a myth that has lived on down to our own times. According to this, radiant sun-god Helios was the protector of the island and that’s why Rhodes is constantly flooded with sunlight.

It would seem, though, that Rhodes has been favoured by all the gods, since throughout its history it has known moments of greatness and glory and emerged as one of the most important regions in the whole of Greece. The cultures which have developed on its soil have each enriched it with their own achievements and have left their mark upon it as one has succeeded the other. These marks have remained indelible down to the present, giving the impression that every part of the island is none other than a different plane in the mechanism of time. Next to the white marble of the ancient temples and statues, the half-ruined walls of the settlement and sanctuaries were the gods of ancient Greece were worshipped, stand the little Byzantine churches with the gaze of the ecstatic figures in their wall-painting fixed on the heavenly God of the Christians. A little further on, the narrow streets lead to medieval palaces and castles, from which you expect to see knights in armour charge forth. At the same time, from behind high walls the domed roofs of Turkish mosques and the crossed arches of the low houses in the Turkish quarters make their presence felt.

Nevertheless, all these images from the past have not robbed Rhodes of the pleasures of modern life. On the contrary, they have made a crucial contribution to the island’s development, making it one of the most cosmopolitan places in Europe. Thus the pace of its life has speeded up and it has become a tourist centre of the greatest importance. Its harbours are full of ships, yachts and fishing-boats, its beaches are covered with multi-coloured sun-shades and sun-tanned bodies, its hotels echo to the sound of every language under the sun, its streets are filled with tourist shops, restaurants, cafιs, bars and discos, where music and dancing bring the night to life.

However, whatever are the visitor’s wishes and expectations, no one can avoid feeling close by the shadow of the Colossus, the bronze giant of Rhodes, its protector the Sun, who will be there to halt the flow of time and link yesterday with today.