Today is a grey day. The sky is heavy and the waves are powerfully rolling in, cutting into the shingle and sand and taking with it anything in its wake.  I booted myself up and took myself off on a beach walk from the river at Kiotari towards the river at Gennadi.

Its not an easy beach for walking, the sand is soft and relents underfoot, walking on  with an invigorating wind coming in from the sea.  The beach is completely deserted, not that it is ever really very busy down here even in the months of July and August. The only sound is the beating and roar of the waves hitting the shingle beach.

The land next to the beach is being eroded in this area, and each winter with a strong south east wind another couple of centimetres are taken off the land and washed into the sea.  For years I have seen in the cliff face fragments of red tiles and pebbles washed away into the sea and  have been aware that there was something of historical interest here.

We have heard that a company  has sought and been granted planning permission for a large hotel in this  area between the two rivers, on agricultrual land just up from the beach. Because of this, the archaelogists have moved in to reveal what lies beneath the surface.

I’m told the site has been closed off to the public and entry is forbidden.  I approach from the beach and can see the dig is well under way and I’m in the luck, there is absolutely no-one about!

Its obvious that this was once the site of a large dwelling from the middle ages.   The walls are well constructed with intricate tiling/mosaic on the floors.

You can also see fallen columns which must have supported the ceilings and roof. The place is facinating and I was thinking about the families that must have once lived in the house and in the area and how far in from the sea must the house have been when they were first constructed.

Of course the military is never far away in Rhodes and right next to the house wall is a collapsed concrete look-out, probably constructed during the second world war by the Italians.
There are hundreds of archaelogical sites similar to this all over Rhodes but I am satisfied I was able to experience some history before it is all dug up and covered up.