The Acropolis of Lindos rises on a sheer rock above a whitewashed village and two natural harbours on Rhodes. Its famous view is only the final layer of a site used for worship, defence and political display over more than two millennia. Ancient stairways and the sanctuary of Athena Lindia occupy the summit inside walls substantially shaped by the medieval Knights of St John.
Lindos was one of the three ancient cities of Rhodes. Its cult of Athena developed before the island’s unified capital was founded in 408 BC, and the sanctuary drew dedications from across the Greek world. Most visible classical and Hellenistic architecture dates from rebuilding between the fourth and second centuries BC. Later Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and knightly phases altered access and fortification.