Churches of Lindos
St
Aemeilianos
('the tomb of
Cleobolus')
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| ST AEMILIANOS is probably the most fascinating. It is a rotunda, set on a rocky mound overlooking Lindos bay about three miles out from Lindos itself. The finger of magma curls back around, and the tower stands at the entry to the bay, a sheer drop 200ft below it. The only way to get there is to walk over the rocky terrain, which I did late one afternoon when the temperature had dropped (!) to about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). It is built out of blocks of black magma, and dates from about the first century BC. Obviously, it wasn't built as a church, but probably as some kind of funerary monument. It is called locally the Tomb of Cleobolus, but this isn't likely as it post-dates the tyrant king by about five centuries. It seems to have been converted into a church about the 4th century AD, and was possibly still in use as late as the 19th century, since there are remains of an abandoned settlement not far off, including a windmill and stone walls. Today, it is a very remote place indeed, and apart from a cross above the door and the brick outlining of an eastern apse, all there is inside is goat droppings. |
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