If you want to escape from the heat of summer head into the hills and you can explore a bit of modern history. Well, modern by Greek standards! There’s no tour guide, no signposts or heritage signs. This is a piece of modern history tucked away in the mountains of Rhodes.
There are several different routes into the hills, the simplest is to take the turning off the main road at Kolymbia going past Seven Springs. Both places that are a part of the same history, the remnants of Italian Rhodes and I’ll post about them another time.
If you’re visiting the island in winter the village taverna is still open.
This part of Italian Rhodes has been abandoned for many years and now it’s up for sale as a part of the Greek privatisation fund.
Eleousa (Compochiaro)
In a square above today’s village Eleousa stands the centre of the original purpose built Italian village. Called Compochiaro it was built between 1935 and 1936. It was part of the agricultural development of the island and settled by Italians from rural areas who had knowledge of forestry.
The shaded square surrounded by fir trees
At one end of the square raised high above the road is the church, originally Roman Catholic and now Greek Orthodox.
Originally built as a Catholic church
Inside the church
Very ornate Greek Orthodox decoration
Walking up to the church you can look at the whole square. The village was built around 1935 to house around 100 Italian settlers who were brought in to manage the forests in the area. You can spot abandoned Italian buildings in the land surrounding the village.
Opposite the church stands a building known as the old Sanatorium. It was used for the quarantine and treatment of Tuberculosis from 1947 to 1970 there’s even a geocaching treasure here. Walking around this building it definitely has a really spooky feel to it. The rooms feel more like jail cells than hospital wards and watch out for the occasional pigeon. I can’t imagine what a future developer would turn it into?
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- Front of the old sanatorium
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- Looking back into the square through the broken doors
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- I wonder what a future investor will turn this into?
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- the room doors seem more like a cell doors than a hospital
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- it’s a spooky place to walk around
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- an upstairs gallery leading to a courtyard area
To your left are the archways of the old market place, a fascinating building to explore, I think it would make a wonderful boutique hotel. Upstairs you can still make out the wall paper and paint. Within the square there would have been a cinema I wonder which one it was in?
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- The old market building shaded by trees
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- It’s easy to drive past and miss this place
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- the archways give a glimpse of the building inside
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- now quiet but was once a bustling market
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- looking out towards the back
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- Looks like this room downstairs has been used recently
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- Solid stairs entice you up
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- The floor below is made of mosaic pebbles
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- this upstairs room still has all the tiles intact.
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- it’s amazing the balconies are still intact
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- There’s still wallpaper in this upstairs room
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- This would make a wonderful hotel room
Finally to your right, painted white, is the old police station. Part of the building is currently being used a school.
As you head out of the square between the church and old marketplace you can turn right into the current village of Elousa. There you will find a small square with a couple of tavernas and village shop. We’ve only eaton in one of the Tavernas but I’m sure they’ll both have a selection of local food.
Alternatively continue up the hill for a few hundred metres and you’ll reach the Italian fountain.
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- a part of the original hydroelectric system
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- This is drinkable fresh spring water
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- It really is that green
Built at the same time as the village it looked very green but there were some very large fish swimming around. The smaller fish are said to be the Gizani freshwater fish an endangered European fish. The fountain and pond were built as a part of an irrigation and hydroelectric power system.
Opposite the fountain where there’s parking space you can spot a wooden sign attached to 2 trees. This sign is the entrance to a pathway and at Christmas it leads to a live nativity scene created by the villagers each year.
This old picture of Compochiario now hanging in the Elafos hotel further up the hill from Eleousa where there is a hidden gem, but that’s another post.
Old black and white picture of Compochiario
Eventually these buildings will be sold off to developers, it will be good to see them use again. Though I wonder if the sense of history that it holds now will be lost.
This is an old film of Rhodes mainly narrated in Italian, from 8.50 you can see how Compochiario used looked before WWII.
Elsewhere on the internet, there are claims that Mussolini intended to retire here and a villa was built for him. Do you have any information on that?
As you say there are claims and lots of local gossip, though there isn’t any real proof. There is a villa now abandoned that is rumoured to have been intended for him and it’s very spooky to walk around.
Hi, what you call “The old market building”” was a sanatorium!!! Suggest to check correct info first… 🙂
Look at your photos again – you really think those rooms were part of a market???
Yes there are two empty buildings the one opposite the church was the Sanatorium and the one to the side was a market, I live on the island and did check the information thoroughly before posting. Thank you
Just visited Rhodes as I had just read the novel The Island of Secrets. We stumbled across this village by accident and wondered if this was one of the villages used in WWll. It really is spooky and after watching the video I realise how lovely Rhodes was prior to the war.
Hi Judy, yes I wonder what that area would have been like during the war. From the description in Island of Secrets I think that they were closer to the Rhodes town end of the island. Back then there was no road across to access the airport and even the airport was in a different place. The whole area from the current airport up to town was very undeveloped and would have looked so different. There are more videos available in Italian prior to the war try google in Italian for Rhodes. Thank you for reading the blog and commenting.
Hi Amanda, i have visited Rhodes many times before, this year we had a car to explore more of the Island. We accidentally found the square and market place. it is fascinating and a little eerie. i am sure there is a market for a different type of tourism here. A very beautiful area of Rhodes
Hi Alison, yes I agree that there is so much more to this island than just the beaches and hope that tourism expands to cover something different soon.
What history those walls could tell. Such a lovely place – my kind of visit 🙂 #TravelatHome
I was in Rhodes twice as a child (all the way back in the 1980s) but don’t think we ever made it up here. It looks fascinating and spooky in equal measure, what an amazing place to explore Thanks for posting in #TravelAtHOme
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We stumbled across Elousa in 2005 always wondered what the buildings were as we went in a few of them,I must admit it did seem rather eerie,I have a few photographs of the Sanitorium ,i did not know the place on the right as you looked at the Monastry was a market.
This is a very interesting web page indeed
Thank you, there’s a fascinating history on the island but it’s not always easy to find out about it. Great pictures of the square thanks for sharing
The film is a rare treasure, all of it! What a find! Do you know what “Luce” is? I would assume some Italian agency or ministry but couldn’t find yet on Google.
Good question, I’ve done a bit of research: LUCE is an acronym “L’ Unione Cinematografica Educativa”, i.e. “The Educational Film Union”) was an Italian corporation, created in 1924 during the Facist era.
According to Wiki: The Institute, based in Rome, was involved in the production and distribution of films and documentaries intended for being screened in cinemas. Famous for having been a powerful propaganda tool of the fascist regime, it is considered as the oldest public institution devoted to production and distribution of cinematographic materials for didactic and informative purposes in the world.
Interesting thanks for asking the question I’d never have looked further 🙂
Here’s the link if you want to know more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istituto_Luce
Dear Amanda,
I found your info very interesting. Nice the video too, actually there are others.
By the way, I may be wrong but, the place you refer could be Campochiaro which in Italian means Bright Camp (chiaro is an adjective without an exact translation in English: is the exact opposite of dark in the sense of “with enough light to see” which is not exactly bright).
From this link:
https://books.google.gr/books?id=Noa8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=Insediamenti+italiani+a+Rodi+campochiaro&source=bl&ots=Nq1H2S2TIz&sig=BPMlCMGX3tCuQ_sO9TAy_k6Ck14&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjkmeu3vJHOAhXDCMAKHWfdCxMQ6AEILDAC#v=onepage&q=Insediamenti%20italiani%20a%20Rodi%20campochiaro&f=false
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All these settlements were created due the Fascist propaganda that advertised in italy the possibility for every farmer to have a plot of land to cultivate. This happened because Italy generally has a lot mountains and few plains.
Being the fascism, at least initially a socialist movement, Mussolini promised to all the poor farmers with out property in Italy a plot of land to cultivate in the colonies (Lybia, Eritrea, Somalia, …).
In this perspective the Italian Governor of Dodecanese promoted a massive land reclamation program to turn the barren territory of Dodecanes Islands into a fertile garden.
In reality this effort concentrated on the major islands, drain inhabitants from the minor ones… but this is a complicated matter…
Andrea
It’s interesting speaking to some older Greeks who remember the Italian era, and now look back at it with a fondness. I’ve even heard some younger Greeks on the island comment that things would be better today if they were still a part of Italy…
Yes the spelling could well have been Campochiari not Compochiaro it was difficult to find a definitive answer and my Italian isn’t that good, thank you, it’s great to find other people who are interested in this area of the islands.
Very interesting blogg. I visited Campochiari the other day. I very much doubt the “sanatorium” was built like one. Never heard of a sanatorium next to a plaza/square. It usually have large windows and balconys to to let light and air in. After WWII I’m not surprised it was converted.
I guess this is the cinema and common/gathering house. But I I’m only guessing now.
Thank you Hans, yes I agree it became a sanitorium around 1947, before then it would have had some sort of municipal use with a raised entrance over looking the square, I like the idea of a cinema in there, though today would you agree it is a little spooky?
Hi Amanda. Yes very spooky and very interesting. Of your in to Italian architecture Rhodos town is a great place. Especially the earlier houses before fascism. The hotel Albergo del Roses is a gem. The round market on an Arabic Italian style