Hoteliers from Rhodes have gathered to present their proposals for the recreation of the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue of the Greek titan-god of the sun, Helios, standing at 30 meters in height at the ancient port of Rhodes was considered one of the tallest structures of its time. The structure stood at the port for 56 years until it was destroyed in a 226 B.C. earthquake. Tourists can only imagine what it must have looked like!
Even after its destruction, the remains lay on the ground for over 800 years and were so impressive, even broken, that travelers came to see them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and that each of tis fingers was larger than most statues. In 653 the statue was sold when an Arab force under Muslim calip Muawiyah I captured Rhodes.
50 of the island’s largest hoteliers now want to the statue to jump from legend, folklore and imagination to the realms of reality. They have already compiled a text that has been presented to the new regional coordinator of Rhodes Marietta Papavasileiou.
