The cruise's starting and ending point is the beautiful Mandraki Harbour. This was the ancient ‘sheep pen’, the name in Greek being mandri, a name often used for small, encircling harbours. Mandraki was one of the five ports of ancient Rhodes. It was the naval port and was known as the ‘small harbour’ as opposed to the ‘great harbour’, the present Commercial Harbour. Legend claims that the harbour entrance was spanned by the legendary Colossus of Rhodes, but there is no proof of this. Today twin columns from the Venetian era, bear statues of Rhodian deer, a stag and doe, stand on either side of the harbour gap. On the opposite side, lies the 15th-century Fortress of Agios Nikolaos. Named after the island's patron saint, St Nicholas, this massive fortress rose from the humble origins of a small church, transformed into an imposing bastion by the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John. Sharing this scenic view are three marvellously preserved medieval windmills!