Quick Facts about Rhodes Island and Greece
Rhodes - Lindos: The Lindians were the first to draw up a code of maritime law, known as the Rhodian law. This later became the basis for Roman maritime law. Emperor Antoninus (reigned ad 138–161) wrote: “I am indeed lord of the world, but the Law is the lord of the sea. This matter must be decided by the maritime law of the Rhodians…”
After the Acropolis in Athens, the Acropolis of Lindos is the second most visited Acropolis in Greece!
The Statue of Liberty in New York harbor is 120’ tall and weighs 225 tons. The Colossus of Rhodes guarded the harbor of Rhodes, was 110’ tall and was built 2000 years ago!
To diminish the weight of the dome of the Byzantine church Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople, very light materials were used, tiles of a white spongy earth manufactured at Rhodes!
The symbol of the athletic footwear “NIKE” has been adopted from a Greek Goddess named Nike, Winged Goddess or Spirit of Victory both in battle and peaceful competition. Her wing is represented by the Swoosh.
Greece has over 2000 islands, but only 227 of which are inhabited!
Greece has the 10th longest coastline in the world at 9,300 miles! America’s coastline is estimated at 11,800 miles.
The land area of Greece (50,949 mi2) is slightly smaller than the US State of Louisiana (52,378 mi2)!
The Greek Merchant Navy controls 16.2% of the world’s total merchant fleet, making it the largest in the world.
Greece has half the seismic activity of Europe.
85% of Greeks own their accommodation which is the highest rate in the EU!
During World War II, Greece fought Germany, Italy and Albania simultaneously and that it was the only country that held the most days of resistance (219 days) before succumbing to the Nazi forces!
A major public holiday in Greece is “Το Όχι”, the “Day of the ‘No’”, on October 28th. It commemorates Greece’s refusal to surrender to the Axis Powers in 1940!
In a famous 1941 speech Winston Churchill stated: “Greeks do not fight like heroes. Heroes fight like Greeks!”
April 15, 2015 the results of the world’s largest and most prestigious olive oil competition were revealed in New York, where nearly 700 olive oils from 25 countries were evaluated by an international jury of experts. Greece scored 5 wins out of the first 25 world’s best extra virgin olive oils for 2015.
After Spain and Italy, Greece is the third largest producer of olive oil in the world!
Greeks eat more olive oil than any other nation in the world. One hundred and fifty million olive trees cover a land of 2.4 million acres in Greece. Olive oil accounts for 76% of the total exports from Greece. Half its total olive oil production is exported to other countries, most of which is re-labeled as their own.
In ancient Greece, wealthy families dipped their children in olive oil at birth to keep their bodies hairless!
The first cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet, Archestratus, in 330 BC, which suggests that cooking has always been of importance and significance in Greek society.
13% of the English Dictionary is derived from Greek words!
There are at least 63 different folk dances in Greece!
The popular “Yo-yo” toy is the second oldest known toy in the world. It originated in the days of ancient Greece around 500 BC!
Greece’s currency since 500 BC, the “Drachma”, was one of the oldest currencies in the world. Greece adopted the “Euro” in January 2001 parallel with most European Union countries.
Cleopatra was Greek. She came from the famous Macedonian Greek dynasty and was the only Greek ruler who spoke Egyptian.
The New Testament was written in Greek!
The Greek flag is called “Galanolefki” which means “blue and white”. Originally it was blue with a white diagonal cross. The cross is now situated in the upper left corner and symbolizes the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Blue is the color of the sea and Greece, being a seafaring country, could hardly use any other color for its flag. White is the color of freedom, and that is something the Greeks hold very dear after years of enslavement by the Turks. Each of the nine stripes symbolizes a syllable in the Greek motto of freedom: Eleftheria i thanatos, which translates Freedom or Death.