Rhodes, an island in the Mediterranean, appertaining to Asiatic
Turkey, near the coast of Asia Minor; is 40 miles long, with a
breadth of 18 miles at its widest point; area, 570 square miles;
pop. about 30,000. Rhodes, the capital of the island of Rhodes,
situated at its N.E. extremity. It is defended by towers about
800 feet distant from each other, while in the center of the
mole there is a square bastion 120 feet high. It was at this
entrance to the harbor of this city that stood the celebrated
Colossus of Rhodes. Pop. about 10,000. The ancient Rhodes was
taken possession of by a branch of the Doric race, who held it
at the time of the Trojan war, 1184 B.C. It was of small
political importance among the states of Greece till the city of
Rhodes was build and made the capital of the island, 408 B.C. It
was taken by Chosroes II., King of Persia, in 616; by the
Saracens in 651; and by the Knights of St. John, Aug. 15, 1309.
Mohammed II. besieged it ineffectually in 1480, and the Sultan
Solyman I. compelled it