11 Days, Luxury Cruise from Spirit - 20221012 - 11 days

Haifa (hì¢fä), city (1988 est. pop. 225,000), NW Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a major industrial center, a railroad hub, and one of the main ports of Israel. Haifa is known to have existed by the 3rd century A.D. and was destroyed (1191) by Saladin. The city’s revival began in the late 18th century; development of its port in the 20th century led to its main growth. It is the world center of Baha’ism.

Rhodes (rodz) or Ródhos, island (1981 pop. 40,392), c.540 sq mi (1,400 sq km), Greece, in the Aegean Sea, near Turkey; largest of the Dodecanese island group. Its fertile coastal areas produce wheat, tobacco, cotton, and olives. Tourism and fishing are important. Colonized by Dorians before 1000 B.C., it reached its height as a commercial and cultural center in the 4th-3d cent. B.C. Julius Caesar studied at its renowned school of rhetoric. After its decline, Rhodes was an ally of Rome. Captured (1204) from the Byzantine Empire during the Crusades, it was held by the Knights Hospitalers (1282-1522) and the Ottoman Turks before it was taken by Italy in 1912. In 1947 it was ceded to Greece. The famed Colossus of Rhodes (see under colossus), a statue erected (292-280 B.C.) by the citizens of the ancient capital
city of Rhodes, was destroyed by an earthquake in 224 B.C.