Cruised along the Loryma Peninsula to Loryma harbour, where we weighed anchor and made our way up the Hellenistic fortress that overlooks the anchorage. It is believed to have been built by the Rhodians after they resisted the siege led by Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Alexander the Great’s successor, Antigonus the One Eyed.
The idea: to stop the harbour being used again to launch an attack from the mainland. Indeed, it is extraordinary to think that this harbour hosted some 400 ships bound to attack Rhodes. The siege failed, however, and the Rhodians, having sold the left-over siege engines, decided to build the Colossus.
Interesting, though, that the giant statue of Helios would stand for only 56 years before an earthquake snapped it off at the knees.
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