Rhodes, Dodecanese, Greece: Bridge Between Europe and the East

Thanks to its strategic location on ancient trade routes, Rhode's economy was always a prosperous one. Little remains of the ancient past (the 100-foot bronze Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was sold off as scrap metal in the 7th century A.D. after being toppled by an earthquake). But the Middle Ages--a period on the island dominated by the crusading Order of the Knights of St. John--remain very much in evidence in the Old Town, the largest inhabited medieval town in Europe. The wonderfully preserved walls are one of the great medieval monuments in the Mediterranean. Three miles long, up to 40 feet thick in some places, and encircled by a double moat, the walls encapsulate the Old Town, an evocative framework for what is, in itself, a historical monument.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die Page-A-Day Calendar. Saturday, February 25, 2006.