This beautiful mug was purchased from a traditional ceramics workshop after visiting Lindos and the amazing restoration of its Acropolis.

One of the Seven Wonders of the Classical World was the Colossus of Rhodes, a gigantic sculpture in the image of Helios erected to tower over the harbor entrance to Rhodes.

The Isle of Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese Islands. Sculpture Chares was commissioned to build a huge bronze statue of the sun-god taking 12 years to erect and measuring 35 meters tall. The ill fated statue buckled at the knees after an earthquake in 227 BC. Chares came to an equally unfortunate end when he discovered a fault in his arithmetic for the statue. In despair, he killed himself.

The Delphi Oracle warned against resurrecting the Colossus so it remained for 900 years on the ground. It is said that 900 camels were loaded with the body parts and sold to a Jewish antiques dealer in 653 AD. Not a single chip of Colossus survives.

While Colossus was never resurrected, Rhodes certainly was revived many times throughout history.