The acropolis of Lindos stands at the top of a sheer rock, 116 meters above sea level, surrounded by the walls that the Knights built. It occupies an area of approximately 8,400 meters and it was the most strongly fortified site on Rhodes. The first impressive monument you will come across on your way up is the stern of a ship carved into the rock, a work made by the sculptor Pythokritos (2nd century BC). Another work also accredited to Pythokritos is the famous Nike of Samothrace (the Winged Victory of Samothrace), which is now displayed at the Louvre Museum. The Rhodians had dedicated the sculpture to the sanctuary of the Cabeiri in Samothrace, after their victory over Antiochus in 190 BC.
The most important monument is the Doric temple of Athena Lindia, located at the highest point. It was built in the 4th century BC on the ruins of the original temple that had been founded by Cleobulus, the tyrant of Lindos and was destroyed by fire in 392 BC. The enormous statue of Athena was here, but it is said that Constantine the Great transferred it to Constantinople and placed it in the hippodrome, where it was later, in 1203, destroyed by drunkards. On the rock of the acropolis you can see the Knights’ commandery (it was the residence of the Byzantine commander of the garrison that the Knights restored in 1317), a large Hellenistic stoa (covered walkway) and the 13th-century church of Saint John.
Info
Τel. number: +30 22410 75674, 22nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
