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The Hill of Filerimos The hill of Filerimos is located in the N/E of island of Rhodes.
History Ialysos & Filerimos Ialysos is one of the three ancient cities of rodos with remains of occupation dating back to 3rd millennium BC and also settlements & cemeteries dating from the Mycenaean-Minoan period. The building remains of ancient Ialysos discovered to date are mainly on the Filerimo hill, which was given this name in Byzantine times. Its earliest known name was Achaia, which is further evidence for the presence of Greeks in this area during the Mycenaean period, Strabo calls the hill Ochyroma ("Fortification").
From very early times the hill was in fact used as a strong point and also as a place of worship. Late Classical and early Hellenistic remains preserved on the acropolis of Ialysos include a Doric fountain-house and the foundations of the temple of Zeus and Athena Polias. The Doric fountain is on the steep south side of the hill, on a smallplateau in the almost vertical rock-face. .
It takes the form of a stoa constructed of poros and comprises a closed cistern, a second, open cistern with six pillars, linked by closure slabs, and a facade in the form of a stoa with six Doric columns. Waterspouts in the form of lion's heads, set in the closure slabs, channelled the water onto the floor of the stoa. The third pillar has a late Hellenistic inscription carved on it, listing the penalties to be inflicted on anyone profaning the sanctity of the fountain. The remains of the temple of Zeus and Athena Polias are at the highest point of the Filerimo hill. It is an amphiprostyle tetrastyle Doric temple of poros.
The church built by the Knights, in the 14th c., originally consisted of two hexagonal chapels in the area of the aisleless Byzantine church. It was modified in the late 15th c., though retaining its distinctive double form, since the icon of the Panayia Philerimou was worshipped by both Orthodox and Catholic Christians, During the period of Italian rule (1912-1945) a "Golgotha" was built: this was a series of shrines with relief scenes of the Passion, which leads from the square to the west edge of the plateau of the Filerimo hill. In the 90s a cross was constructed on the top the plateau
The foundations for the cult statue are preserved at the north end of the cella. Architectural members from the ancient temple were used n the construction of the three-aisled Early Christian basilica constructed on the same site in the 5th or 6th c AD, of which the baptistery is still preserved, in the area of the south aisle. The baptistery is in the shape of a cross, the arms of which have curved ends, and the interior is revetted with marble slabs. The north aisle of the basilica, which s precisely above the ancient temple, was repaired in the Byzantine period and converted into an aisleless church. The tiny aisleless church of Ai-Yorgis Chostos, to the west of the ancient temple, apparently also belongs to the Byzantine period. In the 15th c. its walls Is were covered with paintings depicting the
Passion and the Life of the virgin mary, as well as a series of
Knights with their patron saints. Although they were basically western
in style, these wall-paintings were influenced by the Byzantine
painting tradition. To the west of the square created to accommodate
visitors to the site, the katholikon of a monastery complex dating
from the 10th c. AD has been excavated, it is a three-aisled
cross-in-square church with three apses and a dome supported on four
columns. The Byzantine remains include the ruins of the Byzantine
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