Bettany Hughes' Treasures of the World Season 4 Episode 5

Reality Insight Hub

Bettany Hughes' Treasures of the World Season 4 Episode 5  # #RealityInsightHub   🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️ 👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TrailerBolt 👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Transcript

00:01I'm on the trail of wonders to treasure.

00:05Precious clues from the past.

00:07She's full of sensuous promise.

00:11With unmissable experiences.

00:14They're afraid why you adore Dolphin so much and they're playing with us.

00:18Hidden sites in unexpected destinations.

00:22No way. I've never seen anything like that before.

00:27Amazing. Clip to 10.

00:31I'm on a global voyage of discovery to explore our shared heritage

00:35and how our past shapes all of our lives.

00:39This time, the Greek island roads.

00:42I'm heading to an island with an action-packed, star-studded history.

00:47Meeting friends old and new.

00:49Yamas. Yamas. Yamas.

00:52Witnessing the latest discoveries.

00:54That's where the body would have been.

00:56On an island of pirates, knights and heroes.

01:00Those people must have felt on the top of the world.

01:04Welcome to the treasures of roads.

01:07In the South Aegean, there's a group of islands called the Dodecanese.

01:17Roads, the largest, is blessed with 300 days of sunshine every year.

01:27At a pivotal position between three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa.

01:40Roads' strategic location made it a cauldron of colourful intercontinental activity, proving that islands do not have to be isolated.

01:53Roads' strategic location made it a cauldron of colourful intercontinental activity, proving that islands do not have to be isolated.

02:08It's been luring seafaring tourists since antiquity.

02:13My first treasures are the attractions that made roads the original Roman holiday.

02:21A week's sail from Rome's port Ostia, Rhodes was a cosmopolitan haven for Roman high society and celebrities.

02:36The island nourished body and mind.

02:40But these were choppy waters in every sense, even for future Roman emperors.

02:48When he was sailing to Rhodes, Julius Caesar, no less, was actually kidnapped and the pirates asked for a ransom of 20 talents.

02:57Brilliantly, he said, do you know who I am? I'm worth at least 50.

03:01And we're told that he hung out with them for around 40 days, sort of acting almost a bit like their military leader, but telling them that if he were released, he would have them killed.

03:14By this time, they'd sort of become friends, so they thought he was joking.

03:18But the minute that he got his freedom and was released, he ordered their brutal execution.

03:25Caesar was drawn to this island, famous for its cosmopolitan statecraft and its command of the seas.

03:39The Rhodians were considered to be such expert sailors that some of their ideas about how people should basically behave in international waters were codified into something called the Lex Rhodia,

03:53which was a kind of ancient guide to maritime affairs.

03:58And a Roman emperor said, I might be master of the world, but the Rhodian laws make them masters of the waves.

04:11The Rhodians became the iron-fisted pirate police of the Mediterranean.

04:16Given the very real dangers of these waters, you might think that the Romans would avoid Rhodes, but they actively flocked here.

04:33Roman tourists would head to Egypt to see marvels like the lighthouse of Alexandria and the pyramids.

04:43Rhodes was the perfect stop off.

04:46They were drawn here by its heritage, myths and sensuous lore.

04:57I'm arriving, like them, at the island's ancient harbour capital.

05:05One adventuring author, Strabo, declared,

05:07I'm unable to speak of any other city as equal to it.

05:16Many came on themed retreats or business trips with a bit of fun thrown in.

05:24The first monument to tick off their cultural bucket list was the Colossus of Rhodes.

05:29Built around 280 BCE and often shown straddling the harbour in later artworks, it stood 32 metres tall.

05:39Made of radiant bronze, this vast statue revered the island's patron, the sun god Helios.

05:50One of the reasons that the Romans loved coming here is that they'd go on these sightseeing tours,

05:57in particular of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus of Rhodes, which was here.

06:03By the time the Romans were in charge, it was actually in bits because it had been collapsed by an earthquake.

06:10But we have these brilliant descriptions about it.

06:12So we hear from a man called Pliny the Elder that the thumbs were so big that some people couldn't even put their arms round them,

06:21that if you explored inside the broken limbs, it was like going into caverns,

06:26and that this was the monument most worthy of admiration anywhere in the ancient world.

06:32Another draw was Rhodes' reputation for persuasive public speaking, attracting ancients keen to learn the art of rhetoric.

06:47Eager students flocked to this Odeon, where the likes of Caesar and superstar author Cicero learnt delivery, delivery, delivery.

06:58It's not just what you say, but how you say it.

07:03Rhodes really became a sort of finishing school for the Roman and Greek elite.

07:09And people would travel for thousands and thousands of miles to come to learn from the oratory teachers here.

07:15And you know, there's a really fascinating theory that because the Rhodians were so cosmopolitan,

07:21because they had to communicate with lots of different nations and cultures,

07:24they had to get their message across in really clever ways.

07:29This is why they were so good at spin, so good at rhetoric.

07:33So the lessons learned here would play out in world events.

07:38And Rhodians, or people trained here on Rhodes, would end up being used as arbitrators right across the Roman Empire.

07:46So what happened here definitely affected world events.

07:51The island also boasted exquisite, unforgettable art.

08:00Treasures you can still find in the Archaeological Museum.

08:05Including this fabulous sculpture of Aphrodite, Venus for the Romans, made over 2,000 years ago.

08:19There's lots that's special about this gorgeous goddess of love.

08:24First of all, her marble skin has been really highly polished, so there's a sheen to it.

08:31So it almost looks as though she's just stepped out of a bath or the sea and her skin is lovely and wet.

08:39And also, if you think about it, Aphrodites or Venuses are often shown with their hands,

08:45covering their breasts and their sex as if they're a bit kind of embarrassed.

08:48Not this gorgeous creature.

08:52She's liberated and open and just full of sensuous promise.

09:05Surrounded by all this abundant art, culture and nature,

09:11it's easy to see why the Romans loved this island.

09:14There are yet more pleasures, if you know where to look.

09:23Hello!

09:25Classicist Spiros Siropoulos has secured me special access to a real treat.

09:34The Nymphaeum.

09:37A secluded grotto, hidden away at the posh edge of the ancient town,

09:41dedicated to nymphs, mythical sprites of pleasure and the natural world.

09:48Isn't this nice? We go through this nice dark tunnel.

09:53Yeah.

09:54And at the end, we see the light.

10:00That's awesome.

10:02Isn't it?

10:03That is awesome!

10:04It is, it is impressive.

10:06It is impressive.

10:07So impressive!

10:10So all, it's like a kind of natural cave they've made even more amazing by sculpting on Earth.

10:16We see the niches.

10:17Yeah.

10:19Obviously, they were purposed to host decorative figurines or lambs, things like that.

10:25There is a water cistern to collect rainwater associated with the cult of the nymphs.

10:35There's something sort of mystical about it.

10:37It's that thing when myths are real and live and just part of everybody's daily life.

10:43But owned by one person or by the public, because it's huge.

10:50The interesting thing is that all this has been very close to the residential area.

10:56Yes.

10:57Which is only 90 metres down the road.

10:59So it must have been part of a very rich late Hellenistic Roman housing block.

11:06So a private, a private home.

11:08Noble Romans were known for their elegant villas.

11:14So you can imagine this being the ultimate place for a wine-soaked, mythically themed dinner party.

11:24I love the fact that they were here in the Hellenistic times, the time just after Alexander the Great.

11:29And then the Romans are here and the Romans are loving, loving this place, aren't they?

11:34It became a very popular resort for the Romans.

11:39The Romans came here to study oratory and philosophy, mathematics, even astronomy.

11:45The big schools were here.

11:47Yeah.

11:48And they just fell in love with the place.

11:51Still feel they sing.

11:53It's just dropped on your, on your shoulder.

11:55A little bit of purification ritual.

11:58I love it.

11:59That's what I like about roads.

12:01You can never escape the past.

12:08So it was, it was like a good Roman holiday coming here.

12:11Ferrier, as the Latin word for holidays, that's what the Romans said, so this is what they had here.

12:17Yeah.

12:18It's so magical following in the footsteps of the ancients here.

12:30What's great about getting access to a place like this is you can really feel why roads mattered so much to the ancients.

12:38Because just imagine coming in here on a ferocious day with a boiling sun and just kind of getting a bit of respite and having a moment to, to take breath, to learn from people from right across the world.

12:53So, so this is somewhere that you could recharge your batteries and open your mind.

12:59I'm exploring the rich Greek island of Rhodes.

13:26This place is all about connection and links to the world beyond its shores.

13:33Mastery of the waves was key to the island's success.

13:41Now, if this doesn't tell you that sailing and command of the sea is in the, in the lifeblood and the identity of the Rhodians, I don't know what it does.

14:00Isn't it totally exquisite?

14:03And this, which is physically carved into the rock face, was left here 2,200 years ago.

14:11Rhodes' maritime dominance was nourished by its environment.

14:22Hills thick with pine and cypress yielded timber for ancient Rhodian ships, vessels that stitched together the sea roots of the Eastern Mediterranean, trading Egyptian grain and exporting the island's own natural bounty.

14:38My next treasure shows how hyper-connectivity made life here good.

14:45There's an amazing site that's being excavated up here.

14:5170 kilometres south-west of Rhodes town is Kimisala, an ancient settlement slowly yielding its secrets, including a city of the dead.

15:08For two decades, archaeologist Monolis Stephanakis and his team have been piecing together the lives of the islanders buried here.

15:17You've got us on action.

15:19And we're the first film crew to be invited.

15:22Calimera, guys. Hi. Yes, hi, Calimera.

15:25This is me.

15:26Hi. Somebody in the city.

15:28Savas is inside.

15:29That's where the body would have been, is it?

15:31That's a built bench inside the chamber where the body was lying.

15:35Whoa.

15:36And not the only one, I'm guessing.

15:38No. I have so many more to show you.

15:40Oh, you love it. Please come with me.

15:41Good to see you.

15:42So far, the team has studied bone evidence from just ten individuals.

15:49Hi, Calimera. Calimera.

15:51To try to understand their lives.

15:56This is obviously where it's all studied and analysed.

15:59I've just got to tell you this.

16:00This was the old police station village and they're looking after the work.

16:04It is amazing how much material there is here, isn't it?

16:08Yeah, of course.

16:09Bountiful finds, wine jars, jewellery and honey pots

16:16prove Kimisala was home to a thriving mountainside community.

16:21Oh, lovely. It's part of a handle, is it?

16:24Yeah, lovely little handle.

16:26Ah!

16:27It's that kind of moment where you're literally puzzling all the info together.

16:36Dating goods from the graves,

16:38we know Kimisala thrived from the 7th century BCE to the 6th century CE.

16:45That's more than a thousand years.

16:48To flourish for so many centuries,

16:51the outward-looking islanders had to take every advantage of this abundant valley,

16:57with a seaport and rich plateau where vines still grow.

17:02Manolis, this is an awesome sight.

17:09Isn't it?

17:10It's so magical here.

17:12And this section of it, what are we walking through now?

17:17We are passing through the central necropolis of Kimisala, which is a vast area.

17:24We estimate about 500 tombs in the whole cemetery.

17:29500?

17:30Yes, some of them have been excavated, most of them are not excavated yet.

17:34Right.

17:35And as you see, they're all dug in the rock.

17:39Yeah, in the rock face, yeah.

17:41I mean, who are they?

17:43What were these people doing when they were alive here?

17:45These are the people living in the so-called demos of Kimisalis.

17:50Yes.

17:51So, these are, let's say, villagers.

17:53It's so rich, roads as an island, in terms of natural resources.

17:58So, these are probably people who are making their living from farming and sort of olive oil production.

18:05Yes.

18:06We know they had bees living through beekeeping.

18:09Yeah, yeah.

18:10Apparently producing a lot of olive oil.

18:12Yes.

18:13We have a lot of evidence of olive presses.

18:15I've seen quite a lot of goat poo.

18:16There are still goats, goats and sheep.

18:18Yes, hundreds of goats around.

18:19Look at this.

18:22This is our best and largest so-far tomb.

18:25Yeah.

18:26Can I go down?

18:27Yeah, definitely.

18:30So, what they do, they dig a corridor.

18:32Yeah.

18:33Or a four-room, as we call it.

18:35Yeah.

18:36To go to such a depth, then they can penetrate the rock and create a chamber.

18:41Right, right.

18:42Now, in this case, because they accidentally found a cave, a natural cave in the rock,

18:48they built the front of it.

18:51They left a small entrance.

18:53Yeah.

18:54You can see the big stone that was shutting the entrance.

18:58Yeah.

18:59We think family groups were buried together.

19:00And a hundred metre clamber up the mountainside brings you face to face with the sacred heart of Kimisala.

19:16Aha.

19:17Wow.

19:18Look at this.

19:19Huh.

19:20You didn't tell me about this.

19:21I didn't.

19:22You didn't.

19:23You didn't.

19:24You didn't.

19:25A little...

19:26Now you discover it.

19:27Yeah.

19:28A little cheeky surprise.

19:30That's incredible.

19:31So, these are the...

19:32Well, just beneath the walls.

19:34Yeah.

19:35The fortification walls of the city.

19:37Ah.

19:38Of the Acropolis, actually.

19:40Mysterious carvings are yet to be analysed.

19:45Very impressive.

19:47And this goes all the way round, does it?

19:49It goes all the way round, about 560 metres.

19:56Acropolis means highest point of the city.

20:02And there's another treat up here.

20:05Wow.

20:06Look at that.

20:07On the very top of the Acropolis.

20:08Yes.

20:11Top of the world.

20:12And this is our pretty little temple.

20:14But to whom?

20:15Do you know which god or goddess?

20:17We assume it could be Apollo or Artemis, his sister.

20:22It feels like it could be Apollo though, doesn't it?

20:24Up here, up on the sun.

20:26And they love Apollo and Helios and sunlight here.

20:29The Acropolis connects all the settlements around.

20:33Connects the port.

20:35Connects the island cross.

20:37Connects everything.

20:55You just think, standing up here,

20:57those people of the ancient past must have felt on the top of the world.

21:04They could see their beautiful ships made here on roads,

21:08setting out across the oceans to kind of trade and bring wealth back in here

21:13and defend them if there was an enemy navy arriving.

21:17And you've got connection to three continents.

21:19So Europe, Asia and Africa.

21:22I think it was Apollo who was worshipped up here

21:24because there's light all around.

21:26They loved light on this island.

21:29And Apollo is the god of reason and possibility.

21:33So, you know, you feel like lots of things are possible up here.

21:37So, yeah, I reckon this was Apollo's spot.

21:54In Apollo's honour, Manolis and Spiros have invited me,

21:58and the whole team, for a Rhodian nightcap.

22:01Cheers, Yamas.

22:03Yamas. Yamas. Yamas.

22:05Thank you so much.

22:07To our health.

22:08Kimisala's wine is name-checked on Egyptian papyri,

22:12and Rhodian wine jars have turned up in every ancient site around the Med.

22:18Drinking together, this is what symposium means.

22:21It's a true fact that the ancients loved Rhodian wine,

22:25and they wrote about it, Manolis, didn't they?

22:27They exported it everywhere in the known world from the first century BC.

22:32And we have testimonies of more than 100,000 Rhodian amphora handles

22:41around the world in the museums.

22:43Yeah.

22:44That bring the stamp of Rhodes.

22:46So I've actually seen this stamp from Alexandria,

22:50and it's this head of Helios,

22:52and that means that people were thinking about Rhodes

22:54and talking about the islands.

22:57I mean, Egypt is actually quite close,

22:59but as far away as places like Britain.

23:01That's because of the Roman soldiers

23:04Yes.

23:05who were using the Rhodian wine.

23:07This was the biggest propaganda of the Rhodians

23:10around the world,

23:11selling their wine with their badge on it.

23:14Yes.

23:15So everybody would know

23:16it was the best advertisement they could ever get.

23:19Of course.

23:20Why is it so good here?

23:22Is it the soil or the climate?

23:24If you think about it, it's still the same soil,

23:26the same kind of soil which contains limestone.

23:29They had here that made three distinct kinds of wine.

23:38The red wine, they called it black.

23:40The white wine, which was either dry or sweet.

23:44And sour wine, for which they collected the unripe yet grapes,

23:50and they turned it into something very strong.

23:53And I've got another fact, which I love,

23:55is that particularly here on this island,

23:58they used to use seawater sometimes as a preservative.

24:01As a preservative.

24:02Because salt is a very good preservative anyway.

24:04What do you think?

24:05I mean, this is a kind of big question,

24:07but why was Rhodes so special in ancient times?

24:13I would say because it was really a land of opportunities.

24:19Those who came to be part of this society,

24:24and those who were willing to invest in work and businesses here in Rhodes,

24:30soon became part of this island.

24:33They became part of this society, they became successful,

24:36and they returned this investment to the island.

24:38Yeah, yeah.

24:39I would add that it's the geographical position of the island

24:43that also played a great role in this,

24:46because it's between three continents.

24:49So accepting all this commerce and returning it back,

24:53and accepting all these people to stay on the island and hug them,

24:58led to a superb mixture of economy, trade, politics,

25:07politics, everything.

25:09The Rhodian spirit, besides this.

25:11The Rhodian spirit.

25:12This is a Rhodian spirit anyway.

25:14It is, it is.

25:15Of all kinds.

25:16Yamas.

25:17The liquid.

25:18Exactly.

25:19Yamas.

25:20Yamas.

25:33Across the ages, Rhodes maintained its status

25:36as a jewel of the Aegean, a perfect foothold between East and West.

25:42No surprise then, that in the early 14th century,

25:46it became the home of my next treasure,

25:50an order of warrior monks.

25:53The Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem,

25:58or the Knights Hospitaller as they came to be called,

26:01ushered in a new chapter in the story of Rhodes,

26:05and they changed the face of the city forever

26:07with these formidable fortifications.

26:10The Knights, a Catholic military order of the Crusader Age,

26:23held sway in the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 until 1291,

26:29when Muslim forces kicked them out.

26:31After the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell, the Knights found themselves on the run.

26:43For a while, they ended up in Cyprus, but they really wanted a permanent home.

26:48So, they set sail across the Mediterranean, heading for Rhodes.

26:53And in 1310, after tricky campaigns, they finally took the island.

27:00The Knights were known for offering protection to pilgrims,

27:06and one of their main initiatives on Rhodes was to build a hospital.

27:11It offered care for the sick, poor and injured,

27:15without distinction between faiths.

27:18Today, it's home to one of my favourite places on the island,

27:22the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.

27:25The hospital had separate wards for infectious diseases and maternity care.

27:34A fireplace warmed the rooms,

27:37and each patient got a servant, their own bed,

27:41a woolen hat, fur-lined coat and slippers.

27:46Linen sheets and covers were changed three times a week.

27:50It's gardens were a medicine chest,

27:55growing herbs and plants for the treatment of various ailments.

28:01A dedication to care still embodied

28:04in their most enduring international legacy,

28:08the first aid service, St John Ambulance.

28:12It wasn't only the hospital the Knights built.

28:19A massive construction campaign left Rhodes Town

28:22as one of the best-preserved Gothic cities in Europe,

28:26enclosed within four kilometres of impenetrable walls.

28:31This feels a bit like travelling in time,

28:40because this is one of the most complete medieval streets in the world.

28:49The Odos Ipoton, or Street of the Night,

28:52would have been bustling with men ready to join the order,

28:56drawn here by promises of land and wealth.

29:00However, membership was open only to the high-born,

29:10and proof of nobility was a prerequisite.

29:21Young men would travel here from right across Europe,

29:24and they'd take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience

29:28and promise to look after the poor and the sick.

29:31And they'd stay here in these things called inns or auberges

29:35that were divided up, depending what language you spoke,

29:38into different tongues.

29:40Imagine, each with their own coat of arms,

29:48arriving as soldiers from what's now France, Germany, Italy, England and Spain.

29:54The knights were drawn into Rhodes' melting pot of cultures.

29:59Sometimes enemies at home, but brothers on this island.

30:04The international rhythm of Rhodes still exists today,

30:07with February's carnival season.

30:11A wild festival with roots in antiquity.

30:14Despite its pagan origins,

30:16it's believed some knights secretly indulged in its revelry.

30:21Amazing, amazing!

30:33Medieval enthusiast Anna Acciola is joining me

30:37at the celebrations that have been revived today.

30:40Anna's been looking after us here on Rhodes,

30:43and she's passionate about the medieval world.

30:45Yes, of course, it's part of them,

30:47because, you know, all the medieval buildings,

30:49the medieval city there is, they live inside it.

30:51So, it's a live heritage.

30:53The carnival is a multicultural event.

30:57You know, besides, Rhodes has always been multicultural,

31:00and at the time of the night,

31:02there were so many different lands, the nations.

31:05They met here, and they lived all together,

31:07from England, from Portugal, from France, from Italy.

31:10All these people here, along with the Greeks.

31:13Yeah.

31:14Yeah, they were united,

31:15and they would live very connected to each other,

31:19the different communities.

31:21And the knights were very friendly with the locals here.

31:24Yeah.

31:25Especially after the first ten years

31:27of they being in the island,

31:30they organized a hospital

31:32that would accept the poor and the nobles the same.

31:37You know, they would take care of them the same.

31:40That was not very common in medieval Europe,

31:43and that helps us understand that we share some common roots,

31:49a common culture.

31:51We are not separated from each other.

31:54We have managed to live together, in a small island,

31:58all these nations.

31:59After a long night, I'm up early to immerse myself

32:20in the medieval world of the knights,

32:23in Rhodes Old Town.

32:29This gorgeous bird's eye view of the city was made in the 1400s.

32:35Bits of the old city are still pretty similar today.

32:38You know, you can see some features like this.

32:41This, for instance, this is the street of the knights.

32:45And this is where I'm heading now.

32:52Dominating the city,

32:53this huge castle embodied the knights' power

32:57power and was home to their big boss.

33:01Welcome to the palace of the Grand Master,

33:04described by one English pilgrim as the most beautiful under heaven.

33:15The labyrinthine building housed the knights' council chamber,

33:20dining rooms, chapels,

33:22and the apartments of the Grand Master himself.

33:28The castle we see today was reconstructed,

33:31but you can still feel its original domineering presence.

33:37This picture-perfect fantasy palace

33:40was actually built back up by the Italians in the 1930s.

33:44They even planned for it to be a holiday home

33:46for the Italian king.

33:48Having taken control of the island in 1912,

33:54the Italians spared no expense

33:57in preserving the medieval spirit of this architectural gem.

34:02Even Benito Mussolini's left his mark.

34:07For the holy knights who originally built it,

34:11the palace wasn't just a fortress.

34:13It was a spiritual haven.

34:15Its halls and courtyards, chapels, and sacred spaces

34:20were used for worship, rituals, and inductions

34:24to strengthen the knights' international bonds of brotherhood.

34:30But the castle's impressive defences

34:33would be severely tested.

34:35In 1522, a massive Ottoman fleet assembled in the bay,

34:47controlled by the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

34:50The knights and the islanders were outnumbered

34:53and fought really valiantly,

34:56but they just could not win.

34:57After the Ottoman victory, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V,

35:00said nothing in the world was ever so well lost as Rhodes.

35:10The knights and their supporters fled,

35:14ending over 200 years of rule.

35:18The palace would become an Ottoman fortress.

35:22One of the churches was used to store gunpowder,

35:26with disastrous results.

35:29Over 300 years later, in 1856,

35:32the gunpowder exploded,

35:34wiping out the church and destroying the castle,

35:37until it was restored by the Italians.

35:45More than just soldiers,

35:47the Knights Hospitaller of Rhodes were architects of an era.

35:53They defended the island, blended diverse cultures,

35:58and their legacy stands in stone.

36:07Exploring its history, it's clear Rhodes has long been a beacon of hope.

36:24A crucible of opportunity and enlightenment for many cultures,

36:30all learning to live together.

36:31There's another group of people who arrived here by boat,

36:38and were a vital part of the island for over 2,000 years,

36:44before they were ripped from these shores by force.

36:52My next treasure is the Jewish Quarter of Rhodes Old Town.

36:57The heart of a community that thrived here for two millennia.

37:08Mentioned in the biblical Book of the Maccabees,

37:11a Jewish settlement was established in Rhodes

37:14right back in the 2nd century BCE.

37:16The Christian Knights Hospitaller ordered the Jews here to convert or leave.

37:29But once the Ottomans were in charge from 1522,

37:34Jewish islanders were allowed to re-embrace their faith.

37:37This neighbourhood became home to a vibrant Sephardic Jewish community.

37:50Expelled from Spain and Portugal, settlers brought with them Judeo-Espanyol,

37:57a language that gave this place its pet name, La Juderia.

38:02So this is the oldest synagogue in Greece.

38:14It's one of the oldest in the whole of Europe, and it was built in 1577.

38:20So just think what lives, what experiences this building's witnessed.

38:26By the end of the 19th century, the streets of La Juderia were home to a Jewish population of close on 4,000.

38:36The Jewish community was allowed to thrive here under Ottoman rule.

38:46So that's 400 years of peaceful coexistence.

38:53But in the early 20th century, everything changed.

38:58The Ottoman Empire's power was waning,

39:01and Italy seized the Dodecanese Islands.

39:04By 1938, under Mussolini's fascist regime, and with anti-Semitism on the rise,

39:12a sinister situation was evolving and thousands fled.

39:17Tragically, worse was still to come for those who remained.

39:23During World War II, Hitler's Germany took control.

39:29From July the 18th, 1944, orders were given for Jews on roads to report to Nazi headquarters.

39:42The Turkish consul general, who was Muslim after all, suspected this was a trap.

39:48He confronted the Nazi commander and insisted that any of the population here who had Turkish citizenship should be spared.

39:58He managed to smuggle them out with friends and family on boats across the water to safety.

40:05And he said he was simply doing his duty as a human being.

40:10Selah Hatim, arguing that the arrest of Turkish Jews and their families would trigger an international incident,

40:25and successfully saved 42 people.

40:32But just five days later, the remaining Jewish community, all 1,673 of them,

40:41were forcibly gathered to start a terrible journey to the death camps of Eastern Europe.

40:47Carmen Cohen is director of the remaining Jewish community in Rhodes.

41:04You know, Carmen, it's so moving and haunting walking through these streets.

41:10The Rhodes was called a small Jerusalem.

41:13What's that?

41:14There were five synagogues in this quarter and two yeshivot.

41:20That means places that they were studying the Torah.

41:24And do you think when they were asked to gather in these streets, those women and men and children,

41:31do you think they knew what was happening when they were being asked to leave by the Nazis?

41:36I don't think so.

41:37They thought that they were sent somewhere for work.

41:41They asked in the beginning from the men and the boys up to 16 to go to the headquarters of the Air Force in Rhodes.

41:54After a couple of days, they were taken to the port after having the alarm to ring.

42:01So everybody of the rest of the people living in the island would be in the houses so they don't see what was happening.

42:10Right. And I didn't realize that as well.

42:12So the other islanders, they were told to stay in their homes so they couldn't come out to protect them.

42:18Yes, they couldn't see what was happening as they were taking them to the port.

42:23And there's this incredible story about the Turkish consul who helped.

42:30Yes. At that time, Turkey was neutral, I think.

42:34Yeah. And he had good relations with Germany, let's say.

42:38Yeah.

42:39So these people, they had or they managed to get Turkish passports.

42:44So he asked not to be deported as citizens of Turkey.

42:51Turkey. And that is the thing that even through these really dark days, you have to remember as well those few people who helped.

42:59Yes, there is always light sometimes.

43:01Always light.

43:02And that is something that's special about Rhodes too, because you have had all faiths living here peacefully together.

43:12For such a long time.

43:14Yeah.

43:15All, you know, people believing in three monotheistic religions.

43:21Yeah.

43:22Christianity, Muslims and Jews.

43:25And why do you think that is? Why do you think the island helps that to happen?

43:30I think because of the position of the island, it's in the middle between Eastern Europe and Eastern.

43:38Yes.

43:39And it just proves that if we need to get on together, we can get on.

43:43Yes, of course we can. That's for sure. Because we are still living now all together.

43:49Yes.

43:50The same.

43:51Walking through the Jewish Quarter, it's poignant to envision the vibrancy and hope that once filled these streets.

44:05And how vital it is for the small Jewish community still here to preserve those memories.

44:12That's for sure.

44:14And that's for sure is true.

44:31Sitting here just makes me think of the extraordinary bravery

44:36of that single young man here on the island of Rhodes

44:39who came from Turkey from just over there

44:42at the time of World War II

44:44when terrible things were happening to so many people.

44:47But he risked his life and the life of his family

44:51to save others, people he didn't know.

44:54So although it's an utterly sorrowful story,

44:58there are these tiny, tiny glimmers of hope.

45:04There's so many stories here on Rhodes

45:06of people managing to live together.

45:09This is a place where different religions,

45:12different faiths, different cultures

45:14have managed to work out ways of respecting one another.

45:19So it's an island of light and hope in lots of ways.

45:28This island is a wonder

45:42because it's been a melting pot through time,

45:46witnessing valuable harmony between cultures and communities.

45:53Rhodes has seen so much history

45:56and it's a reminder that even if you live on an island,

46:00you don't have to be isolated

46:02because for centuries people have come here from across continents

46:06to trade and to find out about each other,

46:10to live and to live well.

46:13Because of course it can be true

46:15that if you spend time in faraway places

46:18and with other people,

46:20whether they're strangers or friends

46:23that you can learn not just about the world

46:26but about yourself.

46:50where you he can learn not just about the world

46:52or a person who has copied from to give these ideas

46:53and

46:59however,

46:59I think you have some great attractions

47:03in your Dafürland food

47:03that you can learn more about.

47:05Everybody loves you

47:05and select the merchandise

47:06that you can learn about

47:06and download theístマREEx.

47:08the ShareJuan Vernon

47:11know your free monetary history

47:11movies that we have

47:13and that you are involved in

47:15and you don't love

47:16Musik

47:17too.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended