After Archangelos the road descends into a wide coastal plain. At the foot of the descent (33km) a turning is indicated to the right towards Pheraklos Castle, visible 2km to the south of the road. From its size and magnificence it is clear that this castle, unlike the fort at Archangelos, was a protective refuge for the local population in times of danger and was designed to endure a siege: the large cisterns inside confirm as much—some so deep that it is hard to imagine they could ever have been filled completely. When the Knights arrived in Rhodes in 1306, a Byzantine castle which they proceeded to capture already existed here; they appear entirely to have rebuilt it for themselves over the next two decades, maintaining the same foundations but reconstructing the walls and cisterns. The masonry does not use the limestone of the immediate area but rather a ‘poros’ stone transported from further south on the is land. It is fixed with extensive use of brick tiles, potsherds and mortar in the interior of the walls. After settling in Rhodes , the Knights often used the castle as a detention centre for prisoners and errant members of the Order. The enceinte is entered on the southwest side: nearby, the base of a look-out tower is visible at the highest point. The most impressive remains on the summit are the variety of deep cisterns—some vaulted, others cylindrical and originally domed. A number of deep galleries were cut into the rock of the hill at ground level for refuge and storage during the Second World War; the entrance to one of these is on the right of the path as you descend. At 42km the main road divides, the right-hand branch continuing to the south of the island (see Southern Rhodes ). The left branch leads after 3.5km to Lindos.
Rhodes Island is part of the Dodecanese Island Group, Greece.