Two slim columns on either side of the Mandraki Harbor entrance are topped with a stag and doe of the Dama-Dama Deer (the Rhodian Deer) which now serve as the guardians of the harbour.
The Dama-Dama Deer is a protected species, that you will only find in the island of Rhodes. It lives in pines and cypress forest, where it can find water to consume throughout the year.
There are many legends about how this deer was brought to the island. The strongest one supports that they have been in Rhodes from ancient times, in the 6th century BC. Back then, the island was named “Elafousa”, after the many deer living there.
Another interesting legend states that, the deer were brought to Rhodes by the Crusaders in the Medieval times, in order to protect their camps from the snakes. Although the deer do not kill snakes, their horns produce a substance with a smell that makes the snakes to turn away.
You will find two deer statues, a feminine and a male, standing at the Mandraki Harbor, in the town of Rhodes. An elegant symbol for an elegant island such as the one of Rhodes.
The site is believed to be where the statue of The Colossus once stood.
"The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Before its destruction, the Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world. Ancient accounts describe the structure as being built with iron tie bars to which brass plates were fixed to form the skin. The interior of the structure, which stood on a 15-meter- (50-foot-) high white marble pedestal near the Mandraki Harbor entrance, was then filled with stone blocks as construction progressed. The statue stood for only 56 years until Rhodes was hit by an earthquake in 226 BC. The statue snapped at the knees and fell over onto land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the reconstruction of the statue, but the Oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it."