Lindos#Acropolis

{{main|Lindus}}

According to myth, Lindos was founded by the Dorians led by the king Tlepolemus of Rhodes, who arrived in about the 10th century BC. It was one of six Dorian cities in the area known as the Dorian Hexapolis. The eastern location of Rhodes made it a natural meeting place between the Greeks and the Phoenicians, and by the 8th century Lindos was a major trading centre. In the 6th century it was ruled by Cleobulus, one of the Seven Sages of Greece. The importance of Lindos declined after the foundation of the city of Rhodes in the late 5th century BC.

In classical times the acropolis of Lindos was dominated by the massive temple of Athena Lindia, which attained its final form in around 300 BC. In Hellenistic and Roman times the temple precinct grew as more buildings were added. In early medieval times these buildings fell into disuse, and in the 14th century they were partly overlaid by a large fortress built on the acropolis by the Knights of St John to defend the island against the Ottomans.

File:Lindos View of the Acropolis and town from the north-east. Rhodes, Greece.jpg

Above the modern town rises the acropolis of Lindos, a natural citadel which was fortified successively by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Knights of St John and the Ottomans. This makes the site difficult to excavate and interpret archaeologically. The acropolis has views of the surrounding harbours and coastline.

On the acropolis of Lindos today parts of the following buildings may still be seen:

File:Lindos the anciet ship.jpg

• The Doric Temple of Athena Lindia, dating from about 300 BC, built on the site of an earlier temple. Inside the temple is the table of offerings and the base of the cult statue of Athena.
• The Propylaea of the Sanctuary, also dating from the 4th century BC. A monumental staircase leads to a D-shaped stoa and a wall with five door openings.
• The Hellenistic stoa with lateral projecting wings, dating from about 200 BC. The stoa was 87 metres long and consisted of 42 columns.
• The well-known relief of a Rhodian trireme (warship) cut into the rock at the foot of the steps leading to the acropolis. On the bow stood a statue of General Hagesander, the work of the sculptor Pythokritos. The relief dates from about 180 BC.
• The Hellenistic staircase (2nd century BC) leading to the main archaeological area of the acropolis.
• Remains of a Roman temple, possibly dedicated to the Emperor Diocletian and dating from about 300 AD.
• The Acropolis is surrounded by a Hellenistic wall contemporary with the Propylaea and the stairway leading to the entrance to the site. A Roman inscription says that the wall and square towers were repaired at the expense of P Aelius Hagetor, the priest of Athena in the 2nd century AD.
• The Castle of the Knights of St John, built some time before 1317 on the foundations of older Byzantine fortifications. The walls and towers follow the natural conformation of the cliff. A pentagonal tower on the south side commanded the harbour, the settlement and the road from the south of the island. There was a large round tower on the east facing the sea and two more, one round and the other on a corner, on the northeast side of the enceinte. Today one of the towers at the southwest corner and one to the west survive.
• The Greek Orthodox Church of St John, dating from the 13th or 14th century and built on the ruins of a previous church, which may have been built as early as the 6th century.

Some scenes of the well-known film, The Guns of Navarone, were filmed here.

File:Lindos Rhodes.jpg|View to the Acropolis

File:Staircase of the Propylaea (Lindos).jpg|Staircase of the Propylaea

File:Hellenistic stoa (Lindos) 01.jpg|Columns of the Hellenistic stoa

File:Acropolis of Lindos 01.jpg|View of the summit of the Acropolis

File:Rhodos Lindos Acropolis R02.jpg|Church of St. John on the Acropolis

File:Altstadt von Lindos.jpg|Panoramic view

File:20210826-Lindos-Acropolis-DJI 0200.jpg|Aerial view

File:20210826-Lindos-Acropolis-DJI 0208.jpg|Aerial view

File:Lindos, view from Ákra Soumáni.jpg|Lindos and St. Paul's Bay

File:Ancient Greek theatre in Lindos 01.jpg

Excavations were carried out at Lindos in the years 1900 to 1914 by the Carlsberg Institute of Denmark, directed by Karl Frederik Kinch and Christian Blinkenberg. The acropolis site was excavated down to bedrock and the foundations of all the buildings were uncovered.

During the Italian occupation of the island (1912–1945) major restoration work was carried out on the Lindos acropolis, but it was poorly done and was harmful to the historic record. The north-east side of the Temple of Athena was restored. The monumental staircase to the propylaea was rebuilt and many of the columns of the Hellenistic stoa were re-erected. Large surfaces were covered with concrete. Bases and inscribed blocks were taken from their locations and placed along the restored walls.

Judged by modern standards, this work took insufficient note of the evidence available from the excavations and in its methods did damage to the remains themselves. In recent years Greek and international archaeologists under the supervision of the Greek Ministry of Culture have been working to restore and protect the ancient buildings on the site.

Lindos has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa) strongly influenced by the Mediterranean Sea. Lindos has mild winters and particularly hot and dry summers while rain falls mostly in the winter. Lindos has an annual average temperature of {{convert|22|C}} and is Greece's warmest area annually. The climate in this village is very hot for its latitude. For example, Lindos is 7°C hotter than Busan, South Korea in annual averages and 10°C warmer in winter, despite Busan is quite closer to the equator. While being in the same latitude at Virginia, US, the village has temperatures of Northern Florida. {{cite web|url =https://www.meteo.gr/climate/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927081043/https://meteo.gr/climate/|archive-date=27 September 2022|title= Climate |publisher = National Observatory of Athens|language = el}}{{cite web | url=https://www.meteo.gr/article_view.cfm?entryID=173 | title=The warmest area of the country is | publisher=National Observatory of Athens | access-date=19 July 2021}} On average Lindos records 6.1 days each year with minimum temperatures over 30.0 °C.{{cite web | url=https://meteosearch.meteo.gr/data/index.cfm | title=Meteo search | accessdate=21 March 2025}} In August 2021, the National Observatory of Athens station in Lindos registered the all-time highest mean monthly temperature in Europe.{{cite web | url=https://www.dimokratiki.gr/01-09-2021/i-lindos-espase-to-rekor-ton-ypsiloteron-thermokrasion/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927235324/https://www.dimokratiki.gr/01-09-2021/i-lindos-espase-to-rekor-ton-ypsiloteron-thermokrasion/

|archive-date=27 September 2022| title=Η Λίνδος έσπασε το ρεκόρ των υψηλότερων θερμοκρασιών | date=September 2021 | publisher=Dimokratiki}} Also, during the summer of 2024, Lindos recorded the highest average summer temperature in Europe with {{convert|32.0|°C|1}}.{{cite web | url=https://www.dimokratiki.gr/03-09-2024/proti-i-lindos-stin-evropi-me-tin-ypsiloteri-mesi-kalokerini-thermokrasia | title=Lindos tops summer average temperature European record | publisher=Dimokratiki newspaper | accessdate=3 September 2024}}{{cite web | url=https://www.anexartitos.gr/serres-emy-neo-rekor-mesi-megistis-thermokrasias-kalokairioy | title=Summer 2024 | publisher=Anexartitos newspaper | accessdate=3 September 2024}} Moreover, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service SE Rhodes, where Lindos is near, registers the highest mean annual sunshine in Greece with over 3.100 hours.{{cite web | url=http://climatlas.hnms.gr/sdi/ | title=Climatic Atlas of Greece | publisher=Hellenic National Meteorological Service | accessdate=28 September 2022}}

{{Weather box

| location = Lindos 65 m a.s.l.

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| Jan record high C = 21.9

| Feb record high C = 24.8

| Mar record high C = 25.9

| Apr record high C = 32.4

| May record high C = 36.2

| Jun record high C = 43.6

| Jul record high C = 42.7

| Aug record high C = 43.1

| Sep record high C = 39.8

| Oct record high C = 37.9

| Nov record high C = 27.2

| Dec record high C = 22.5

|Jan high C=16.4

|Feb high C=16.9

|Mar high C=18.6

|Apr high C=22.5

|May high C=26.9

|Jun high C=31.8

|Jul high C=35.5

|Aug high C=35.0

|Sep high C=31.6

|Oct high C=26.7

|Nov high C=22.0

|Dec high C=18.3

|Jan mean C= 13.8

|Feb mean C=14.2

|Mar mean C=15.7

|Apr mean C=19.1

|May mean C=23.2

|Jun mean C=27.9

|Jul mean C=31.5

|Aug mean C=31.4

|Sep mean C=28.2

|Oct mean C=23.7

|Nov mean C=19.4

|Dec mean C=15.8

|Jan low C= 11.3

|Feb low C= 11.6

|Mar low C= 12.8

|Apr low C=15.7

|May low C=19.5

|Jun low C=24.1

|Jul low C=27.6

|Aug low C=27.8

|Sep low C=24.8

|Oct low C=20.7

|Nov low C=16.7

|Dec low C= 13.2

| Jan record low C = 1.1

| Feb record low C = 3.3

| Mar record low C = 3.1

| Apr record low C = 9.4

| May record low C = 13.8

| Jun record low C = 16.8

| Jul record low C = 21.1

| Aug record low C = 24.0

| Sep record low C = 16.3

| Oct record low C = 13.1

| Nov record low C = 8.8

| Dec record low C = 4.3

|rain colour = green

|Jan rain mm=107.2

|Feb rain mm=74.5

|Mar rain mm=45.1

|Apr rain mm=10.8

|May rain mm=11.0

|Jun rain mm=2.5

|Jul rain mm=1.4

|Aug rain mm=0.04

|Sep rain mm=6.1

|Oct rain mm=22.5

|Nov rain mm=77.0

|Dec rain mm=123.9

|source 1=National Observatory of Athens (May 2014-Feb 2025){{cite web|url =https://www.meteo.gr/climate/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927081043/https://meteo.gr/climate/|archive-date=27 September 2022|title= Climate |publisher = National Observatory of Athens|language = el}}{{cite web | url=https://www.meteo.gr/Monthly_Bulletins.cfm | title=N.O.A Monthly Bulletins }}

|source 2=World Meteorological Organization{{cite web | url=https://oscar.wmo.int/surface/#/search/station/stationReportDetails/0-300-1-lindos|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712151921/https://oscar.wmo.int/surface/#/search/station/stationReportDetails/0-300-1-lindos

|archive-date=12 July 2023 |title=World Meteorological Organization | accessdate=12 July 2023}}

}}

File:Rhodos Lindos Panagia Church R01.jpg|The Byzantine Panagia church with the belltower is located in the centre of the village

File:Lindos173.JPG|The belltower

File:Vliha.jpg|The beach of Vliha Bay

File:Rhodos Lindos Street R02.jpg|View of a street

File:Altstadt Lindos06.jpg|Old house

File:Door in Lindos 01.jpg|Door at the town

File:St_Peter_Church_Lindos.jpg|The 13th century Greek Orthodox Church of St Peter

File:St_Paul_Church_Lindos.jpg|St Paul's church is now popular as a wedding chapel

File:Lindos 02.JPG|Beach of Lindos

File:Lindos Rhodes Greece 13.jpg|St Paul's Bay, where it is reported the apostle landed during a storm

• Chares of Lindos, sculptor, constructed the Colossus of Rhodes
• Cleobulus of Lindos
• Patriarch Joannicius II of Constantinople
• Ioannis Zigdis (1913–1997), politician and economist

• List of traditional Greek place names
• Chapel of Saint George Pahimahiotis

{{Reflist}}

Lindos Village Information Website: https://lindos-rhodes.gr/

{{wikivoyage|Lindos}}

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{{Landmarks of Rhodes}}

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Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Greece

Category:Acropoleis in Greece

Category:Archaeological sites on Rhodes

Category:Religion in ancient Rhodes

Category:Roman sites in Greece

Category:Populated places in Rhodes