A Tomb, or Not a Tomb

Way out on the headland, on the far side of Lindos Bay, is a circular stone structure which dates back to pre-Christian times. Seasoned Lindos fans will know all about it, but for the benefit of those who don't, I'll explain a little.

It's known today as the Tomb of Kleoboulos (or Cleobulus), who was a native of Lindos from 625-555 BCE. He is often called the "tyrant" of Lindos, but that creates a rather false impression of the poor guy. To come to his defense here, the word "tyrannos" …carried no ethical censure; it simply referred to anyone, good or bad, who obtained executive power in a "polis" by unconventional means. By all accounts he was quite a cultured bloke who'd been to Egypt to learn and wrote poetry and riddles, plus is reputed to have bequeathed to mankind a whole bunch of sage sayings (check out this video on Youtube). In fact, on the subject of sagacity, he is also often said to have been one of the "Seven Sages" or "Seven Wise Men" of Greece. All round pretty smart geezer then.

So, anyway, this circular stone structure is his tomb, or rather it isn't. It's actually been dated to the 2nd century BCE and probably served as sarcophagus to a wealthy Lindian family of the time, but that doesn't sound half as dramatic as old "Kleoboulos' tomb" so that's what the locals prefer to call it. It is just possible that the original building on the site may have been a memorial to him, but there's no actual proof. Bet he'd be livid eh? Apparently there's evidence of the place having been used as a "Christian" church too, nothing like a bit of good old re-cycling is there. From the outside it's round, with a diameter I'd say of maybe 15 metres. Pop your head inside though and you'll note that internally it's rectangular and does look a bit like a rudimentary Greek chapel. Frankly, it's all water under the bridge, or at the bottom of the nearby cliff - anyway, the view is what really matters, and it's spectacular.

Having lived here since 2005 and explained all that historical stuff above to a fair few guests on the excursions that I do during the season, the missus and I decided that it was high time we actually went there ourselves. Last winter we had started out to make the walk, but it was evening and, once we realised when we were only about half-way there that it would get seriously dark before we would get back, we thought better of it and abandoned the idea until another time. That other time finally arrived last Friday, January 13th.

Friday dawned a bright, crisp, blue morning with some warm sunshine but a chill in the air if you stood in the wind. Perfect for walking in fact. So, after finally getting all kinds of odd jobs done at home and packing our trusty picnic bag (a really good rucksack affair which is insulated, plus has a front pocket containing two checked cotton napkins, a cheese board and knife, bottle opener and two respectable perspex wine glasses, which was a gift from some very close friends in Wales, Mark and Mary Sewell on our departure for pastures new back in 2005) with some really moist egg and onion mayo sandwiches (on Yvonne-Maria's homemade bread), some crisps and a flask of chilled white wine, plus one of water, we drove off down the lane at around 11.45am - early start always best, eh?

The best place to start out on the walk to the "tomb" is from the free car park on the beach road in Lindos. It's that road which goes off at a tight angle to the left just before you end up in the square, having driven down from Krana Square above. Take the road downwards, past the "herringbone" parking spaces on the right and, just as the road takes a tight right hander, drive up the ramp on the left into the FREE (yes, even during the season folks!) car park, which was once an olive grove and still sports a decent clutch of olive trees, providing shade for those lucky enough to get a space under one. Since ours was the only car there on this occasion, (well, not counting the abandoned Audi that's been there a year or more by now), we had a choice of trees. Luxury. The path begins immediately above the car park, through a gateway, or further along a gap too, in a stone wall, above which is still a working olive grove.

So, at around ten past midday, off we go then (as usual, clicking on an image gives you a larger view)...

 The workings are still there inside this windmill, including the mechanism for turning the millstone, which is ingeniously made up of sections (like those pieces we all were desperate to win in Trivial Pursuit), and held together by iron bands.

 Now, there's gratitude for you. After I'd gone and made sure we spent some quality time together.

 How civilised, the stones have created the perfect shelf for one's glass of chilled white and nibbles

 The landscape's so beautifully green at this time of year

You can get from car park to "tomb" in something less than an hour, as long as you're wearing sensible walking shoes and have a reasonable degree of fitness. We left the car at around 12.10pm and were back down here on the beach eating the rest of our sandwiches by 2.00pm-ish.