Located northeast of Crete and southeast of Athens, Rhodes is known as The island of the Knights. It got its nickname after being conquered by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1309. The next conquest happened in 1523, with the Ottoman Turks. In 1912, Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese were seized by the Italians. The island became part of Greece 36 years later. The City of Rhodes was built in 407 BC and followed the planning system devised by Hippodamus of Miletus. It also was the home of the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of Sun God Helios erected by Chares of Lindos in 280 B.C., and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The City of Rhodes has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1988.
Located near Naples, Pompeii was founded around the 7th or 6th century BC and became a Roman colony in 80 BC. Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD killed its 11,000 inhabitants. The whole city was destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 metres of ash and pumice. Lack of air and moisture allowed for preservation of artefacts and 1150 bodies. The latter were then brought “back to life” in the form of casts. Pompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Located in Normandy, the Mont-Saint-Michel is an island that can only be accessed by bus or foot. Like any other major French landmark, it has an interesting history. The original site was founded by an Irish hermit. First used as an Armorican stronghold in the 6th and 7th centuries, it was then ransacked by the Franks. Legend has it that, in the 8th century, the archangel Michael appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranches and pressured him into building a church at the top. The adjoining monastery draws its name from the latter as well. Mont-Saint-Michel withstood the assaults of the English during the Hundred Years’ War. Due to the lack of monks in residence, the abbey was closed after the French Revolution and converted into a prison. In 1836, a campaign led by influential figures like Victor Hugo helped restore the status of the religious monument. The prison was closed in 1863, and the mount declared a historic monument a decade later. Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay have been part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1979. Visiting the Mont-Saint-Michel is like stepping back in time (if you can overlook the large number of tourists that swarm the island all year long). Indeed, the town is built as an example of how feudal society worked: “At the top there is God. Lower, there are the abbey and monastery. Below this, there are the Great halls, then stores and housing. At the bottom, outside the walls, there are the houses of fishermen and farmers.” (Wikipedia) Mont-Saint-Michel has a circumference of about 960 metres and is 92 metres tall. It currently has 44 inhabitants.
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