RHODES

RHODES

   

Rhodes is a Greek island in the Eastern Aegean Sea.Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide 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, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. It is a mountainous island with forests of pine and cypress and rocky shores.

The island was inhabited in the Neolithic  period. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes and in the 15th century BC, Mycenaean Greeks invaded the island. After the Bronze Age Collapse, the first renewed outside contacts were with Cyprus . In the 8th century BC the Dorians built the three important cities of Lindos, Ialyssos and Kameiros.

 In Pindar's ode, the island was said to be born of the union of Helios the sun god and the nymph Rhode, and the cities were named for their three sons.

The Persians invaded and overran the island, but they were in turn defeated by forces from Athens in 478 BC. Rhodes became a part of the growing empire of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after he defeated the Persians.

Following the death of Alexander, his generals vied for control of the kingdom. Rhodes formed strong commercial and cultural ties with the Ptolemies in Alexandria in the third century BC and 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 Agesander of Rhodes carved the famous Laocoon group  in the Vatican Museums , and the large sculptures in the villa of Tiberius.

In Petaloudes Valley large numbers of tiger moths gather during summer.

1. Rhodes is a(n).....................
a. island 
b. valley
c. monument
d. port

2. The Petaloudes Valley is in ................
a. Kos
b. Rhodes
c. Crete
d. Cyprus


3. Colossus of Rhodes is ....................
a. One of the Seven Wonders
b. a port
c. a temple
d. a building