THE CASTLE OF MONOLITHOS IN RHODES
Monolithos is a small Greek village 70km to the southwest of Rhodes town. It is a touristic and picturesque village which took its name from the big rock, a monolith, hanging above it. On the top of the 236m rock there is a castle overlooking the sea and Halki island.
It is a bit far from the main tourist attractions of Rhodes to reach, but it is totally worth it! There was a watchtower on the rock since antiquity and later a Byzantine castle.
The castle was rebuilt in the 15th century by the knights of the Order of Saint John who occupied the island since 1309. Some people claim that the name Monolithos has not been given due to the rock, on which the castle is built, but due to a black monolith with metaphysical powers that the Knights brought from the Holy Land.
They even say that this monolith is still buried there and if anyone ever dares to dig it up, the whole island will sink!
The Castle of Monolithos is widely ruined today but it offers great views of the sea and the two islets opposite to it. Inside the Castle, there is a small working chapel dedicated to Agios Panteleimon (Saint Pantaleon). Access to the castle is by a staircase cut into the rock. The steps, whilst not particularly steep, are quite slippery simply due to the numbers of visitors wearing them away. On the climb up to the top, you are likely to see hundreds, if not thousands, of small piles of rocks from 3–10 in numbers. These piles are left there by the visitors as a form of a memento.
As a visitor said:
“In Greece, you know, the landscape often gives you a sense of the presence of Gods. The site of Monolithos is certainly one of these”.