Historical Rhodes & Wine Tasting

The tour starts with a visit to Emponas. Situated in the wild foothills of Mount Atavyros the atmospheric village of Emponas has been home to the Emery winery since the 1920s and is also famous for its folk dancing and festivals. Although the village is popular for organized Greek nights, Emponas has maintained its traditional ways.

On the north-western shore of Rhodes, close to the promontory of Agios Minas (the Ancient Mylantio) lies the third of the island's ancient cities - Kameiros (also met as "Kamiros"). Kameiros was one of the three large Doric cities of the island, which united with Ialyssos and Lindos in the 5^th century B.C. to create the powerful city-state of Rhodes. There, we can visit the Doric Temple of Appollo, the Fountain House, the Agora, the Peribolos of the Altars which contained dedications to various deities. Kameiros was basically an agricultural society which produced oil, wine and figs. During the city's golden era of the 6^th century, it was the first Rhodian city to cut its own coins. Kameiros has been often compared to Pompeii, something which is not correct since Kameiros did not fall into decline because of a natural disaster; its decline, like the decline of Ialyssos, was the result of the gradual abandonment by its residents, who decided to move to the city of Rhodes, which as mentioned above, was established in 408 B.C. In 1929 archaeologists localized the ruins of the ancient city and the excavations, which brought it back to life, continued till the end of World War II. The findings, which are very rich and important, have been taken to the British Museum and the Louvre. We hope that some day these archaeological treasures will be given back in order to be exposed to the public by the archaeological museum of Rhodes.

We will return back to the ship for lunch and we shall continue heading to the Old Town.

On arrival at the Old Town of Rhodes, you shall continue your tour on foot, following your guide through the narrow, cobblestone streets and visit the Grand Masters palace, the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes. The site was previously a Byzantine citadel that functioned as  headquarters and fortress. The palace was built in the 14^th century by the Knights of Rhodes who occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1522. After the island was captured by the Ottoman empire, the palace was used as a fortress. The original palace was largely destroyed by an ammunition explosion in 1856. When the Kingdom of Italy occupied Rhodes in 1912, the Italians rebuilt the palace in a grandiose pseudo-medieval style as a holiday residence for Victor Emmanuel of Italy and later for Benito Mussolini, whose name can still be seen on a large plaque near the entrance. On 10 February 1947, the Treaty of Peace with Italy, one of the Paris peace treaties, determined that the recently established Republic of Italy would transfer the Dodecanese to the Greek Kingdom. In 1948, Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese were transferred as previously agreed. The Greeks converted the palace into a museum.