The Colossus
The world-famous Colossus of Rhodes
Is connected to the siege of the town by Dimitrios the Besieger in 305B.C. Proud of their great victory the Rhodians deciger with the funds they raised from the sale of Dimitrios siege equipment to erect a triumphal statue to their great god, Helios. The work was assigned to Chares of Lindos who worked on it for twelve years (304 to 292 B.C.)

Despite the fact the Colossus was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, both a technical and artistic masterpiece, there is a lack of vital information concerning the site it occupied and its actual shape. It is calculated to have been about 31 meters high.

It is said that Chares cast the, bronze limbs of the statue very slowly, on the spot, within enormous mounds of earth, moving from the bottom upward, just as one would build a house. According to one account, the Colossus stood across the entrance to the harbor allowing ships to pass between its open legs. To day it is almost certain it stood on dry land and that the most likely site was the enclosure of the temple of Helios, near the palace of the grand Masters.

But this "wonder" stood for no more than 66 years During a severe earthquake in 266 BC it cracked at the knees and fell. The Rhodians, fearing a curse, did not reelect it and it lay there in a heap for many centuries. But in 653 A.D. when the Arads of Moab pillaged Rhodes, they sold the pieces to a Jewish merchant. Tradition says that it took 900 camels to transport it. But the legend surrounding it was so closely tied to Rhodes, that for many centuries both Greeks and Westerners called the Rhodian people :Colossians".