Temple of Aphrodite dates back to the 3rd century BCE, and was built to honor Aphrodite, the mythological Greek goddess of love and beauty. The temple is located in Symi Square, close to the Eleftheria Gate.
The once majestic structure is now a pile of ruins surrounded by a small fence. Although you cannot walk through the temple grounds, you can get close enough to study some of the old building blocks and fallen columns. Look closely and you may be able to make out some inscriptions on a couple of the stone slabs.
Read the information panel and study the site plan to get a feel for the temple’s layout. Descriptions are written in Greek and English. The statue of Aphrodite Pudica in the Archeological Museum of Rhodes is believed to have been the temple statue that would have been venerated here by the ancient Greeks.
The Temple of Aphrodite is a 10-minute walk from the island’s Tourist Harbour. If you are arriving by car or scooter, you will find limited free parking at Symi Square. Additional parking is available on the road that leads to the harbor.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.