(also Rodhos), a Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean, in the Sporades group. Located 18 km from Asia Minor. Area, 1,404 km2. The island’s coast is only slightly irregular. The highest point on the island is Mount Attavyros (1,215 m). The island is composed mainly of limestones and marbles. There are small forests of pine, cypress, and evergreen oak and areas covered by Mediterranean vegetation. In the lowlands near the sea there are vineyards, gardens, and citrus and olive groves. Sardines, mackerel, and tuna are caught and sponges are harvested in the coastal waters. The island has tourist and health resorts. The city of Rhodes is on the island.
Rhodes is one of the centers of Aegean culture. The island’s cities engaged in maritime commerce and participated during the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. in the colonization of Sicily, North Africa, and other territories. During the Greco-Persian Wars of 500-449 B.C., Rhodes was captured by Persia; later, it entered the Delian League. In 408–405 B.C., the island’s cities united into a single polis. Ancient Rhodes was a developed, slaveholding state headed by an oligarchy of merchant-craftsmen and farmers. In A.D. 44, Rhodes was conquered by Rome and became part of the Roman province of Asia. From the end of the fourth to the 13th century it belonged to the Byzantine Empire; at the beginning of the 14th century it was seized by the Knights Hospitalers of St. John of Jerusalem; and in the 16th century it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. In the years 1912–47, Rhodes was a possession of Italy. According to the provisions of the peace treaty with Italy, signed on Feb. 10, 1947, the island passed into the possession of Greece.
Rhodes is rich in monuments and works of art of various epochs. Many works of ancient art have been preserved, for example, the remains of a temple of Aphrodite in the city of Rhodes, which dates from the third century B.C. In the seventh century B.C., a Rhodes school of painted ceramics developed. At the end of the fifth century B.C., the island’s cities, among them Rhodes (408-407 B.C.), were built according to the plans of Hippodamus. Between the third and first centuries B.C. a Rhodes school of sculpture developed, which produced the statue dedicated to Helios known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue was erected in 285 B.C. and destroyed by an earthquake in 224 B.C. Another work of this school is the Laocoon group. Medieval monuments include Byzantine churches (11th–15th centuries), buildings constructed by the Knights Hospitalers of St. John of Jerusalem (14th–16th centuries), and examples of Muslim architecture (16th–19th centuries).
(also Rodhos), main city and port of the Dodecanese islands in Greece. The city is located on the island of Rhodes, in the Aegean Sea. Population, 32,000 (1971). Rhodes is a commercial center; its industries include the processing of agricultural products and fishing.