Rhodes - Mt Filerimos / Ialyssos Acropolis

(Local Name: Iálysos) Fifteen km/9mi south of Rhodes town (bus service) rises Mt Filérimos (267m/876ft; view), with the remains of the acropolis of Ialysos, one of the three ancient cities on the island. The hill was occupied by a series of strongholds from Mycenaean times (C. 1400 B.C.) onwards. In 1308 it was a base for the Knights of St John during their siege of Rhodes, and in 1522 it served a similar purpose for the Turks. The ancient acropolis was approached by a handsome wide stepped road. On the plateau can be seen the foundations of a temple of Athena, built in the third century B.C. on the site of an earlier temple and replaced in Early Christian times by a church (cruciform font set in the floor). There is also a small chapel with 15th century frescoes and the church and cloister (rebuilt during the Italian occupation) of the Filérimos monastery. Lower down the hill, reached by a difficult stepped path, is a Doric fountain-house of the fourth century B.C.