65 km away from the center of Rhodes, built around the
village castle that dates back to the Byzantine era, in a mountain area, is the
whitewashed village of Asklipio. The village was named after the cult of the
mythical god Asclepius who represented the healing power of nature.
In the center of the village stands the church of the
Assumption of Virgin Mary. Dated around 1060 AD, it was erected in two
construction phases over time and was decorated with numerous frescoes based on
the style of the “Kalymnos art school”. The frescoes are classified
as significant not only because the presentation of scenes from the Book of
Revelation [the “Apocalypse” of St. John]
is a unique rendering of the topic in the area of the Dodecanese but also
because this rendering is one of the earliest ones in Greece, as it dates back
to 1676/1677. Next to the temple, there is an exhibition of sacred relics and
ecclesiastical items, while a visit to the folk art museum of the village will travel
you back in time, taking you into the traditional life of the villagers, as items
from their daily and professional lives that reflect the culture of that old
village are on display.
A path that starts in the village at about 600m away
from the church, leads to a 250m rocky hill, where the Byzantine fortress of
the village is located. Built at a strategic spot, the castle exercised control
over land-based and partly maritime communications, as its location allowed for
the supervision of a large part of the coastline and inland trade routes
leading from the settlement of Gennadi to the south of the island. The fortress
would also offer the villagers, as well as the inhabitants of the surrounding
villages of Lachania, Gennadi, and Vati, protection against enemy attacks. Legend
has it that during periods of large-scale marauding forays and raids, in order
to avoid any attacks, the inhabitants of the village used to put straw hats on
pole tops to make them look like a vast army.
