Lindos: The emblematic city of ancient Rhodes

Ancient Lindos was built on the site of the contemporary settlement that bears the same name and is one of Rhodes’ most important archaeological sites. Its early, pre-Greek place name, along with a few prehistoric remains, indicates that the area was already inhabited as early as the Neolithic period.

Lindos was a member of the Dorian Hexapolis – a political and religious federation – and peaked during the Archaic period (7th – 6th century BC), when the city developed into a major commercial and naval force under the rule of the tyrant Cleobulus (6th century BC). Although it was a Dorian city, it joined the Delian League during the Classical period, but sided with the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnesian War. Its significance gradually diminished after the founding of Rhodes in 407 BC.

The acropolis of Lindos was always the heart of the settlement. The cult of the goddess Athena on the acropolis likely began in the 9th century BC. Historical sources cite that in the 6th century BC, Cleobulus, tyrant of Lindos and one of the Seven Sages of antiquity, restored the Sanctuary of Athena Lindia, which gained great renown in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.

The Doric Temple of Athena Lindia – tetrastyle and amphiprostyle -, which only survives in part, was built in the 4th century BC, as were the Propylaea of the sanctuary with their monumental staircase. The “Hellenistic Stoa”, a building 87 meters long with 42 columns, was erected a little later.

During the Knights era, the Hospitallers strengthened the fortification walls of the acropolis, expanding the earlier Byzantine defenses and shaping their appearance to what it is today. The Commandery, the residence of the governor of Lindos, was constructed at the same time, while the Byzantine church was dedicated to Saint John, the patron of the Order of the Knights.