The Picturesque Delights of Mandraki Harbour

Mandraki Harbour or "Limani Mandrakiou" is the stuff of legends, featuring in so many films, books and tales over the years. It served as the military harbour for the Knights of St John during their time as defenders of Rhodes Old Town and would have played host to their fleet that was used to mount sea-faring raids on non-Christian ships. The name "Mandraki" is derived from the Greek "mandri", meaning a sheep pen, such is the oval shape of this sheltered and almost totally enclosed harbour.

With it’s two graceful Rhodian deer atop the columns that protect the harbour entrance, it’s easy to see why so many visitors head for the place. On the eastern harbour wall are three restored windmills plus the Fortress of Agios Nikolaos. This side also serves these days as the berths for the luxury cruisers and yachts that tie up here throughout the summer months.

On the western side there are several notable buildings including the open-air "agora", a heptagonally shaped structure full more of bars and tavernas than fruit, herb and fish stalls these days, the Governor’s Palace, a fine fountain and the magnificent basilica of Evangelismos, built here after the devastating explosion in 1856 that razed the Palace of the Grand Masters and St John’s Loggia at the top of Odos Ippoton in the Old Town to the ground.

Further on up is the spectacular art-deco aquarium, built by the Italians in the 1930s and still in use today.

Although tourists abound, it is relatively peaceful here. If, like me, they too were standing in awe, looking at a place they’d always dreamed of seeing, then I can understand fully the tranquility and serenity that would serve to render one speechless.

The tour boats and ferries slip quietly from the harbour and cut a course through the clear blue water, their wash lapping gently aside the stone walls of the jetties. The heat of the cobalt blue sky bears down upon you and it becomes clear that this is one of the best and most beautiful locations anywhere in Greece.

Quick Tips:

There is plenty of parking around the harbour, but most of it is charged for via meters at an affordable 60 cents per hour. However, you will be very fortunate to find a space much after midday. A good tip is to take your car onto the eastern harbour wall, by the windmills where you may park for free all day. It can be a tight squeeze and you will need to do a three-point turn to get back out, so drive to the very end, by the fortress, where it is wider and turn there unless you want to risk ending up in the harbour.

If coming from the Old Town, via one of the northeastern gates, beware of the ring road that runs parallel to the walls. It is a demon to navigate if driving and even harder to cross on foot. The locals regard it as their own personal race track and pay scant heed to red lights or pedestrians already halfway across the road.

Best Way To Get Around:

Mandraki Harbour is situated directly outside the northern walls of the Old Town and any bus will drop you within walking distance of the entrance. If driving head for the "port", the signs being conveniently in English. This will take you down to the harbour road, where you turn left and follow for a mile until you see the Old Town walls. Follow the road round the walls, go through Tarsanas Gate, bear right through Eleftherias Gate and the harbour is right in front of you.

If you are visiting Rhodes as part of a package trip, then every tour operator going will offer a coach excursion to the Harbour. It will be expensive though compared to if you book the trip yourself at one of the dozens of independent travel firms on the island who are usually at least 15-20% cheaper. You will travel on the same coach as the folk who have paid substantially more via their travel reps, this being the commission the reps receive.

The harbour is relatively small and compact, and to walk along both harbour walls and to explore all there is to see will take you about three hours.

The Colossus of Rhodes has become symbolic of the island and was one of the original Seven Wonders of The World. After the failed first siege of Rhodes in 305BC, the Macedonian Demetrio Polyorketes ("besieger of many cities") struck a peace deal with the Rhodian defenders and recognised the city’s status as an independent state.

To show good will, Polyorketes left behind all the siege equipment that had been used to target the city during the twelve months of war, this including a huge "helepolis" or "overthrower of cities", a gigantic 9-story-high siege tower constructed of metal. His idea was that the metal should be sold off and the proceeds used to commission a statue to commemorate the war.

The original plan was for Lysippos, a Peloponnesian sculptor to erect a statue of the Chariot of the Sun. This never materialised and Lysippos gave the job to a certain Khares of Lindos, a talented local artisan who favoured the construction of a bronze statue of the island’s patron, Apollo Helios.

This idea was agreed upon and the mammoth task reputedly took Khares twelve years to complete after which, noticing a relatively small flaw in the work, he took his own life.

Greek mythology depicts the Colossus as being about 120 feet tall and weighing in excess of 130 tonnes. Of course, the ancient texts all favour the un-confirmed legend that the Colossus straddled Mandraki harbour, with one foot astride each wall of the harbour entrance beneath which the ships could sail. Modern day investigations place the Colossus as most likely being situated beneath the foundations of the Palace of Grand Masters although no excavations have ever taken place to prove or disprove this theory.

The Colossus was toppled during a violent earthquake in 227BC and laid undisturbed for almost nine centuries. In 654AD, the remains were bought by a Jewish trader and were said to have been taken away on the backs of 900 camels. It is also said, much to the chagrin of the Greeks, that the remains were melted down to make Turkish ammunition to be used in subsequent sieges of the city.

It is of course the romantic option to envisage this enormous statue spanning the harbour entrance and every so often, a fisherman will claim to have netted a piece of bronze from the seabed "proving that the Colossus existed and did indeed straddle the harbour". But dating techniques always disprove these optimistic claims and the pieces dredged up invariably turn out to be lumps of rusted iron from long-sunken boats.

Whether the Colossus ever existed or not, these days, Mandraki harbour entrance is guarded by two sculptures of Rhodian Deer, a stag and a doe on either side atop of slim, elegant columns, surely one of the most endearing images of this photogenic harbour.

The significance of the deer is as follows; in classical times Rhodes island was said to be overrun with snakes, many of them poisonous. The non-indigenous deer were introduced to the island to combat the reptiles, but it’s unclear as to how they actually performed their role. Some say the snakes were trampled to death, others mention that the deer actually ate the snakes, they impaled them on their antlers or repelled them with the odour of their urine whilst a more believable option is the one that suggests the snakes were poisoned by consuming deer droppings. Whichever (if any) is true, the deer were certainly effective as the island’s snake population is now diminished and they present no real threat to humans.

All-in-all, the Rhodian deer have led a chequered past; it is said they all died out shortly after dispatching the snake population and as such, were re-introduced by the Knights of St John in medieval times. This allowed the deer to flourish but during the Ottoman rule of the island, they were hunted to extinction and none remained until the Italians re-introduced them again in the 1930s.

Today, there is still a small colony of Rhodian deer residing in a protected environment within Rhodini Park. Up until the mid nineties, many roamed freely amongst the moats and ruins of the Old Town. Several were however killed by feral dogs in 1994 and a decision had to be taken to protect the remaining animals.

Initial suggestions favoured relocating the deer to the undeveloped south coast of the island but it was feared that poachers would quickly account for the thirty or so remaining animals. Eventually, it was agreed that the deer would be permanently re-homed at Rhodini Park in the city, where they continue to thrive today.

Mandraki’s eastern side of the harbour is the more peaceful of the two, with its windmills and the fortress of Agios Nikolaos.

Originally, there were thirteen windmills along this stretch of harbour, but now, the three remaining examples stand side-by-side on the wider part of the walls and reflect the times when corn was ground at the harbour for the provision of bread-making. This ceased many years ago and the windmills had lain derelict, decaying in the salty air with their stone-work disintegrating. Renovation was started several years ago on the crumbling stone and now all are in first class condition with just the sails to be added at some time in the future.

It is this part of the harbour where the luxurious yachts and cruisers of the wealthy tie up, in stark juxtaposition to the small fishermen's craft, with their flaking paint and rusting winding gear that bobble alongside. The fisherman will sell their catches either in the agora or direct to the scores of restaurants and tavernas within the Old Town.

Other than the luxury pleasure craft tied up on this side, and the parked cars on the walls, very little has changed here in centuries. The fisherman make a reasonable living netting bream, mullet and snapper although some now find they can make more profit by taking holiday-makers around the coast for a few euros each.

Follow the walls for another couple of hundred yards to arrive at the majestic Fortress of Agios Nikolaos, the patron saint of fisherman. This was built in 1460 and is reminiscent of similar fortresses at Heraklion and Rethymno on the island of Crete. Constructed in warm, honey-coloured stone, it makes an imposing stance close to the harbour entrance and without doubt, fought out many a battle during Rhodes’ turbulent past. The fortress is currently closed to visitors whilst it undergoes serious renovation work, but it now also functions as a lighthouse to guide fishing boats and pleasure craft home in the winter storms that can rage in the south Aegean.

Although the western side of the harbour is bordered by the bustling Odos Eleftherias, it does nevertheless contain a huge variety of interesting buildings. These are predominantly positioned between the eastern side of the road , and the harbour wall. The street widens out into a pedestrianised area known as Plateia Vasileos Georgiou where the Italians built many fine buildings.

Beginning closest to the Old Town walls, the first place to visit is the "neo agora" or new market. Painted in vibrant colours, it is a strange, heptagonally-shaped open-air structure containing a wide selection of bars, tavernas, tourist restaurants and gift shops, as well as its more conventional offerings of fish, fruit, vegetable, and herb stalls. On a hot day, as was on our visit, it is stiflingly airless inside and you can’t spend more than ten minutes examining the wares for sale before retiring to the comforting shade of a waiting bar.

Leaving the agora, turn left and continue along Odos Eleftherias to where it widens out into the pedestrianised area; immediately in front of you is the lovely fountain in the centre of the square, installed by the Italians. It doesn’t commemorate or signify any person or event but is nevertheless an attractive feature. Directly in front of the fountain is a large, ornately decorated church, again, a relatively modern addition to the buildings here.

Behind the church is the Governor’s Palace, dating from the era of the Knights. This was unfortunately bedecked with scaffolding and polythene, indicating a pretty extensive restoration project to be in operation. Entrance was out of the question so we walked on by to the ornate clock-tower that sits behind the Palace, built in Venetian style by the Italians and looking rather out-of-place here in Rhodes. Venice itself would be a more fitting site for it I’m sure but again, it is a worthwhile sight to behold.

Further along is the impressive Basilica of Evangelismos, built here after the devastating explosion in 1856 that destroyed the Palace of The Grand Masters and St John’s Loggia in the Old Town. Further on still, and flanking one off the local beaches is Murad Reis Mosque which, rather strangely (and outside of the Greeks usual indifference to anything Turkish) was fitted with a replacement minaret in the early '90s by the Greek Tourist Department. As with all mosques, visitors are not allowed inside unless seeking prayer.

Finally, following the sweep of the adjacent beach round to the left, you arrive at the wonderful art-deco aquarium, another legacy of the Italians and looking rather resplendent having been recently given a face-lift. It’s exterior is decorated with relief pictures of star-fish and the like and entrance is only 1 euro, 80 cents. This will take you into a subterranean tank area where the various exhibits are on display and is well-worth an hour’s stopover.