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Lindos, on the island of Rhodes, Greece.

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Rhodes  Home  Geography & Travel  Physical Geography of Land  Islands & Archipelagos

Table of Contents Geography & Travel

Introduction Rhodes
References & Edit History island, Greece
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Also known as: Ródhos, Ródos
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Islands and Rhodes, island (nísos), the largest of the

Archipelagos Category: Geography &
Dodecanese (Modern Greek: Dodekánisa) group, Travel

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southeastern Greece, and the most easterly in the Modern Greek: Ródos
Aegean Sea, separated by the Strait of Marmara
Also spelled: Ródhos
from Turkey. It constitutes a dímos
(municipality) within the South Aegean (Nótio See all related content →
Aigaío) periféreia (region). Rhodes (Ródos) city,
on the northern tip of the island, is the largest
city of the South Aegean periféreia. The island
is traversed northwest-southeast by hills that
reach 3,986 feet (1,215 metres) in the summit

of Atáviros. The peak commands a view of the
coast of Asia Minor, the Dodecanese

archipelago, and, on clear days, the summit of
Mount Ídi (Psíloreítis) on Crete (Kríti). In Lindos, Rhodes

antiquity the island was infested with snakes, Lindos, on the island of Rhodes,
Greece.
Discover and the name may derive from erod,
Phoenician for “snake.” Farmers still wear
leather boots for protection from a surviving
poisonous species. Winter temperatures average 50 °F (10 °C), and constant winds
account for the many windmills on Rhodes. The valleys provide rich pasture, while the
plains produce a variety of grains.

Minoan remains at Ialysus are evidence of

early Cretan influence. With the collapse of the
Minoan civilization (c. 1500–1400 BCE),
Rhodes became a powerful independent
kingdom with a late Bronze Age culture. In
historic times Rhodes was occupied by 
Dorians, mainly from Árgos, c. 1100–1000.
The Rhodian cities of Lindus, Ialysus, and
Camirus, along with Cos, Cnidus, and
Halicarnassus, belonged to the Dorian
Hexapolis (league of six cities) by which the
Greeks protected themselves in Asia Minor. Rhodes, Greece

The Dorian cities of Rhodes traded throughout

the Mediterranean and founded colonies in
Italy, Sicily, Spain, and Asia Minor and dominated several Aegean islands.

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During the Classical period, Rhodian affiliations vacillated between Athens, Sparta,
and Persia, in attempts to preserve a balance of power. Rhodes supported Rome during
its war with Philip V of Macedonia, and its fleet participated in Rome’s war against
Antiochus the Great of Syria. Roman competition in Asia Minor eroded Rhodian
income, however, and the island steadily declined after Rome made Delos a free port c.
166. During the triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus (43 BCE), the conspirator
Gaius Cassius plundered Rhodes for refusal to support him. Though it continued for
another century as a free city it never recovered its former prosperity; in about 227 BCE
a severe earthquake devastated the island.

The history of Rhodes under Byzantine rule (after 395 CE) is uneventful. In 653–658
and 717–718 it was occupied by the Saracens, and the various Crusades used Rhodes as
a port of staging and supply. After 1309 the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights
Hospitallers) converted Rhodes into an almost impregnable fortress and built a
powerful fleet for protection of the southern Mediterranean sea routes against the
Turks. The Knights evacuated Rhodes in 1523 after an honourable capitulation, ending
two centuries of defiance of the Turks. The island gradually declined as the result of
pestilence, emigration, and harsh Turkish administration, suffering severely during the
War of Greek Independence (1821–29). In 1912 Rhodes was taken from Turkey by
Italy. Under the Allied peace treaty with Italy in 1947, the island was awarded to
Greece.

In the Classical age, Rhodes was famous as a centre of painting and sculpture and had
a noted school of eclectic oratory at which the Romans Cato, Julius Caesar, and
Lucretius were students. Rhodian sculptors were prolific. Among extant works is the
Laocöon group executed by Polydorus, Athenodorus, and Agisandrus. The island has
yielded an array of artifacts from the Mycenaean and later periods, but no Mycenaean
palaces have been unearthed as in Crete and the Peloponnese (Pelopónnisos).
Outstanding among the ruins of Lindus is the temple, or sanctuary, of Athena Lindia,
which dates from the 5th to 3rd century BCE.

The Italian occupation (1912–43) brought paved roads, public works construction,
and considerable archaeological activity, including the restoration of ancient and
medieval monuments. With Crete and Athens (Athína), Rhodes enjoys huge year-
round tourism, which has brought great prosperity. The economy is supplemented by
the production of red wine, grain, figs, pomegranates, and oranges. Pop. (2001)
115,334; (2011) 115,490.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Richard Pallardy.

Aegean Sea  Home  Geography & Travel  Physical Geography of Water  Oceans & Seas

Table of Contents Geography & Travel

Introduction Aegean Sea

References & Edit History Mediterranean Sea
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Also known as: Aigaíon Pélagos, Ege Deniz
Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 21, 2023 • Article History

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Aegean Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea
located between the Greek peninsula on the
west and Asia Minor on the east. About 380
miles (612 km) long and 186 miles (299 km)
wide, it has a total area of some 83,000 square
miles (215,000 square km). The Aegean is
connected through the straits of the

Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara, and the
Bosporus to the Black Sea, while the island of
Crete can be taken as marking its boundary on
the south. The cradle of two of the great early
civilizations, those of Crete and Greece, from
which much of modern Western culture is
Greece and the Aegean Sea
derived, the Aegean Sea is also an important
natural feature of the Mediterranean region,
possessing several unique characteristics that
make it of considerable scientific interest.

The Aegean has an intricate configuration and

could well be considered as a bay within the
eastern Mediterranean basin, to which it is

connected by the straits to the west and east of
Crete. It also has a good connection to the
Ionian Sea to the west, through the strait lying
between the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece coastal islands, Aegean
and Crete. Virtually throughout the Aegean Sea, Greece

area, numerous islands large and small Coastal islands and bays of the Aegean
Sea, Greece.
emerge from the clear blue waters. These are
the mountain peaks of Aegeis, the name given
to a now-submerged landmass. At the dawn of
European history, these islands facilitated contacts between the people of the area and
of three continents. Throughout the entire Aegean shoreline—that is, both the
continental shores surrounding the Aegean Sea and those of the islands—bays, ports,
and shelter creeks are also abundant. These also facilitated the task of seamen
traveling in the Aegean Sea, making longer voyages possible at a time when
shipbuilding was in its infancy. For its size, no other maritime area of the
Mediterranean has comparable shoreline development.

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The maximum depth of the Aegean is to be found east of Crete, where it reaches 11,627
feet (3,544 metres). The rocks making up the floor of the Aegean are mainly limestone,
though often greatly altered by volcanic activity that has convulsed the region in
relatively recent geologic times. The richly coloured sediments in the region of the
islands of Thera (Santoríni, or Thíra) and Melos (Mílos), in the south Aegean, are
particularly interesting. During the 1970s, Thera in particular became a topic of major
international scientific importance, analysis of its surrounding sediments having been
linked with a possible explanation of the ancient legend of the lost island of Atlantis.

North winds prevail in the Aegean Sea, although from the end of September to the end
of May, during the mild winter season, these winds alternate with southwesterlies. The
tides of the Aegean basin seem to follow the movements of those in the eastern
Mediterranean generally. The tide of Euripus (Evrípos)—a strait lying between
continental Greece and the island of Euboea (Évvoia) in the Aegean—is, however,
extremely important, because it displays a tidal phenomenon of international
significance, to which it has, in fact, lent its name. The euripus phenomenon—
characterized by violent and uncertain currents—has been studied since the time of
Aristotle, who first provided an interpretation of the term. Aegean currents generally
are not smooth, whether considered from the viewpoint of either speed or direction.
They are chiefly influenced by blowing winds. Water temperatures in the Aegean are
influenced by the cold-water masses of low temperature that flow in from the Black Sea
to the northeast. The sea surface temperature in the Aegean ranges from about 60 to 77
°F (16 to 25 °C), varying with location and time of year.

The Aegean Sea, like the Mediterranean in general, is the most impoverished large
body of water known to science. The nutrient content, as indicated by the amount of
phosphates and nitrates in the water, is on the whole poor. The less saline waters
coming from the Black Sea have a distinct ameliorative influence, but the role of their
fertility in the Mediterranean in general has been little studied. Generally, marine life
in the Aegean Sea is very similar to that of the northern area of the western basin of the
Mediterranean. In view of its limpidity and as a result of its hot waters, it is not
surprising that the Aegean Sea accommodates large quantities of fish at the time of
their procreating maturity. Such fish enter the Aegean from other areas, notably from
the Black Sea.

Geographically, the multitude of Greek islands in the Aegean can be arranged into
seven principal groups, from north to south: (1) the Thracian Sea group, including
Thásos, Samothrace (Samothráki), and Lemnos; (2) the east Aegean group, including
Lesbos (Lésvos), Chios, Ikaría, and Sámos; (3) the Northern Sporades, including
Skyros, a group lying off Thessaly; (4) the Cyclades, including Melos, Páros, Náxos,
Thera, and Ándros (Euboea, although technically an island, is considered a part of the
Greek mainland and is connected to Boeotia by a bridge at Chalcís); (5) the Saronic
Islands west of the Cyclades, lying 5 to 50 miles (8 to 80 km) from Piraeus and
including Salamís, Aegina (Aíyina), Póros, Hydra (Ídhra), and Spétsai; (6) the
Dodecanese, a group of 13 islands transferred to Greece by Italy after World War II, the
principal island and capital of which is Rhodes; and (7) Crete and associated small
islands. Geographically, Crete, Kárpathos, and Rhodes form an arc of giant stepping-
stones from Greece to the Turkish coast of Asia Minor. Together with Ikaría, Foúrnoi,
and Sámos, the Dodecanese are also known as the Southern Sporades. The Greek
dhiamerisma (region) of the Aegean Islands encompasses the nomoí (departments) of
Cyclados, Dodecanese, Khíos, Lésvos, and Sámos.

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So numerous are the islands of the Aegean that the name Archipelago was formerly
applied to the sea. Structurally the Aegean islands are subject to frequent earthquakes.
Although a number of the larger islands, such as Lesbos, Chios, Rhodes, and Crete,
have fertile, well-cultivated plains, most of them are rocky and quite barren, with
terraces to conserve the sparse soil. Characteristic of this landscape is the Cyclades
group, the southernmost island of which, Thera, has a volcano that was last active in
1925. The northern islands are generally more wooded than are the southern, except
Rhodes.

The chief products of the islands are wheat, wine, oil, mastic, figs, raisins, honey,
vegetables, marble, and minerals; fishing is also important. Tourism generates
increasing income, with visitors attracted to the villages of whitewashed houses and
their handicrafts, as well as to the impressive monuments of the great prehistoric
civilization that flourished here.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michele Metych.

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