Ancient Kamiros, like Lindos and Ialyssos, was one of the three powerful cities on the island. It is situated on the West coast and 37km from the town of Rhodes.
After the foundation of the city of Rhodes Kamiros started to decline and later was abandoned. It was more conservative than the two other city-states and supported its growth by agricultural production. The village was producing mainly oil, figs, and wine. The need to transport those goods forced the village to produce also a great variety of ceramics. During the city’s golden era – 6th century BC it was also the first Rhodian city that cut its own coins.
The city was built amphitheatrically on a hill and on its highest spot stood the unfortified Acropolis of the town of Kamiros. On the Acropolis, one can see today remains of the Athena temple as well as a 6th BC century cistern and Stoa of 200 meters length. The private houses of the city, to the north of the Acropolis, are very well preserved and interesting to visit. There were water pipes and water in each house.
The ancient Kamiros was mainly excavated during the Italian occupation between 1912 – 1943. A lot of discoveries of ancient Kamiros are now in the Louvre, the British Museum and the Archeological Museum of Rhodes.