Discovering the “Lindos Captain Houses”…

Rodiaki NewsRoom

Awe-inspiring, magnificent Lindos, a story to be told!

The picturesque streets of Lindos are scattered with lovely old houses which go way back to the 16th and 18th centuries. At that time the houses where constructed by wealthy merchant seafarers and better known as Captains houses, visible evidence of their success! Sadly to say that some of the houses were damaged in the earthquake of 1610, which devastated Lindos, but compassionately rebuilt to their former grandeurs.

The houses vary in size from simple, two-story houses to even larger, superb Gothic mansions, with Byzantine and Moorish architectural features, standing in large courtyards, sheltering behind high walls.

Most of the Captains’ Houses feature the pebble-mosaic floors, called “hochlakia” pebble flooring, in various patterns, both in the courtyards and the rooms; arched doorways with relief decorations bearing Byzantine, medieval and Ottoman elements; wide pointed arches; painted ceilings; and elevated wooden platforms (soufas) on which the bed was placed. The most impressive features are perhaps the carved doorways and the captain’s “towers,” special rooms located above the doorways, so the captains can watch the sea.

Today, about thirty of them remain and are maintained in very good conditions most with their original furnishings and sundry items brought back by the captains from their journeys around the Mediterranean.

Several of the houses have been converted to bars; one in particular the “Captains Bar”, which is situated not far from the ‘Panagia’ church featuring stunning flooring and doorways, a bar that has not detracted from the beauty of the original house.

Further along the same street, the “Traditional House” open to the public operating as a folk museum & souvenir shop – with objects from the daily life showing (traditional furniture, handmade linen, glasses, vases, kitchen utilities , as well as paintings, local art, traditional costumes) – a fine reminder of the Rhodians who were living during the last centuries.

Impossible not to miss the Lindos Captains houses” if you visit the beautiful village of Lindos on your vacation!