Kamiros: A prime example of Doric civilization

The locals’ main source of income was agriculture thanks to the fertile clay soil found in the area, which Homer refers to as arginoenta.

Traces of human habitation date back to Mycenaean times, specifically to a cemetery of chamber tombs in the village of Kalavarda, northeast of Kamiros. The ruins of a city from the Hellenistic and Roman periods were unearthed during archaeological excavations in the 19th century, back when Rhodes was still under Italian rule.

It was built amphitheatrically with a view of the sea, harmoniously integrated into the natural landscape, although it was destroyed after the great earthquake of 227/6 BC and rebuilt on a larger scale. Extensive repairs to buildings in the agora and private residences were deemed necessary after a second earthquake, around the middle of the 2nd century AD.

The three city-states, Kamiros, Lindos and Ialysos, co-existed peacefully, until they joined forces to create a single entity in 411 BC, when the city of Rhodes became the island’s political center. Kamiros continued to be inhabited until late antiquity and its well-preserved ruins offer unique insight into the classical past of the island, highlighting the architectural and cultural heritage of the Dorian settlers.