t bottom the relationship one has with Rhodes is based on love. It is not by chance that the goddess Aphrodite emerged from its waters and her beautiful little statue can be seen in the island's Archaeological Museum, the old Hospital of the Knights of St. John.

he golden sun, the dark blue sea and bougainvillea's, the hibiscus, the medieval town, the lush green landscape, the imposing Palace of the Grand Masters, the villas with their jasmine, the new market with its cosmopolitan flavor and its up-to-the minute shops will stay indelibly etched on your memory. Above all else there is the Old Town, Rhodini, Paradeisi, the famed Valley of the Butterflies, verdant landscapes, meadows in full flower together with the complex of hotels which is the best in Greece.

hat should you praise first? The deer at Tafro, the ships of every shape and size that crowd Mandraki and the main harbor, the cruise ships that ceaselessly come and go, the daily boats plying the sea between Symi and Rhodes, the waves breaking against the rocks of Neoreio?
he living artistic and intellectual tradition of the island can be found everywhere on the island. The church of the Annunciation with paintings by Kontoglou, the picture gallery with representative works of all the freat modern Greek painters, the exhibition hall with its unique collection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art, the theaters, the concerts, the library with its archives for historical research. All the people who passed through, both Greeks and foreigners, have all left traces of their passage. Both here and in Kameiros and Lindos.
Then there are the villages with their picturesque manners and customs, Archangelos, Ebonas, Afantou and all the others.

he cosmopolitan and attractive island of Rhodes is always at your service and its equally prepared to reveal its natural charms to you as well as its ultra-modern facilities. People stream there from all parts of the world in order to glory in its golden sun, its deep blue sea, its ancient and medieval monuments as well as the hospitallity of its inhabitants. They enjoy their holidays, swimming on sandy or rocky beaches, crowded or deserted, with calm waters or rough waves or water-skiing on the well known, properly equipped beaches.

hey can also have fun by wind-surfing at the east coast (propert for the beginners) or the west one (a real challenge for the most experienced), sailing -various sizes are offered for rent-, underwater fishing, playing tennis -in the Tennis Club of Rhodes or in the large hotels- or playing golf in the village of Afantou.

he ideas for some unforgetable moments at Rhodes even include walking in the town which has so many shops as no other one in the world the size of Rhodes and dining in medieval buildings or by the sea, tasting the Rhodian cuisine which is a combination of Greek imagination and European and Middle Eastern taste. All Rhodes is like a painting. It would be a shame not to place your foot on its Eros-imbued soil and make it your own.

Photos and text taken from "Rhodes - The brilliant island of the sun" (Toubis Editions)