Antiquities in the wall
Marble columns, statue bases and gravestones embedded in the masonry.
A medieval castle at the harbour entrance of Kos town, built by the Knights of St John — the Hospitallers — who ruled Rhodes and the Dodecanese from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The castle consists of two concentric walls: the inner is older, of the fifteenth century, and the outer was added later with massive round towers able to withstand artillery once gunpowder changed the rules of siege warfare. It stood on a small separate islet reached by a drawbridge, until the channel was filled in and it became attached to the land. The most rewarding detail is in its walls: they were built from stones, columns and inscriptions taken directly from the island's Greek and Roman remains, among them the ancient gymnasium. You can see marble columns, statue bases and inscribed gravestones embedded in the defensive masonry — the same practice you saw at the Beulé Gate in Athens. A day trip from Rhodes by ferry.
Marble columns, statue bases and gravestones embedded in the masonry.
The inner of the fifteenth century, the outer added for artillery.
Reached by drawbridge until the channel was filled.
The harbour entrance, Kos town
A military order that arose in Jerusalem in the eleventh century to care for sick pilgrims and then became a military power. After being driven from the Levant they settled on Rhodes in 1309 and ruled it and the Dodecanese for about two centuries, building enormous fortifications there. Sultan Suleiman drove them from Rhodes in 1522 after a long siege, and they moved to Malta, where they became known as the Knights of Malta.
Kos is the birthplace of Hippocrates, and the Asklepieion south of the town is the ancient healing sanctuary and medical school — the island's most important site, on three terraces in a wooded slope. In the town itself the ancient agora lies open among the streets, the plane tree of Hippocrates stands in the square, and there are Roman remains with mosaics. The island is relatively flat and easy to get around by bicycle.
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