Sadly, Amos was the most eastern point of our trip. We had to return. The time we won by crossing the Aegean Sea in two days to minimise the impact of the Meltemi was used. Instead of Crete we had seen Caria and an important part of the Rhodesian trading system. The Venetians would not have come to these lands. They sailed from Kythera south to Crete, followed its northern coast and then moved north to Rhodes. By the times the Venetian Merchants explored these seas, the ancient towns had withered away, their ports long silted or in disrepair.
Marmaris - the well known seaside resort for affordable package holidays. Not many people know that the castle hill was settled since 3'000 BC and that the small town of Physkos once belonged to Rhodes. It lost its strategic significance until Suleiman the Magnificent launched his campaign to conquer Rhodes which his predecessor Mehmed the Conqueror had besieged unsuccessfully. In 1522, the castle of Marmaris was rebuilt and the port served as a base for the attack on Rhodes which eventually forced the Knights to retreat from the Dodecanese to Malta. They valiantly had repulsed the Turkish attacks for months but eventually surrendered when they were running out of supplies.
The old town of Marmaris has a very Turkish feel - there is nothing left from its once Carian and Greek roots - am sure when building in the old town one finds ancient artefacts though
Where once Ottoman war galleys anchored, leisure boats now dominate the scene
Just an hour south to Marmaris is a completely forgotten town though: Amos. It was part of Rhodes and not very large. Probably 2'000 to 3'000 people only. But its walls survived and a few remains of its theatre are still visible. It was cleverly built on a giant rock and easy to defend
Just below Amos is a large modern beach - am sure most of the visitors here have not even heard about the town 100 meters above them
Walking up to Amos on a small, winding road took a good half hour. Luckily we climbed up in the evening. It was sweltering hot. Our Carpe Diem V in the bay.
The Northern Wall are well preserved and allow us to admire the precision of the stone work in ancient time. These are all dry walls with no single drop of cement. 4 meters high they are 2 meters wide.
The theatre did not survive as well but the design and shape is still visible. Many of the seats are still in place but the supporting structure collapsed. Maybe an earthquake did it?
Every part of the plateau was used. There are shards everywhere. We could not find a good description of the town anywhere thus just had to speculate how long it was populated. The view here is towards the south.
The narrow Amos plateau the next morning when we were leaving
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