Rhodes
Located at the crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the island of Rhodes was already settled during the Stone Age, later by Cretans, Phoenicians and Dorians.Rhodes became a prosperous hub within the Greek world after the island's major cities united in 408 BCE and founded a new capital, the city of Rhodes. The following three centuries were the Golden Age of Rhodes when famous artists, philosophers and writers lived here.
The city boasted one of the original Seven Wonders of the World: the Colossus of Rhodes, a monumental statue representing the sun god Helios, completed in 282 BCE. In 226 BCE it was toppled by an earthquake that also badly damaged the city.
A Mysterious Masterpiece
The Praying Boy
This wonderful bronze figure, cast in Rhodes in about 300 B.C. by a student of the great Lysippus, is a masterpiece with no less than 18 known owners. Does it depict young Apollo or Ganymede reaching for the eagle of Zeus – or simply a ball player?▶The Museum of Islamic Art▶ Rhodes
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