Ialysos was one of the three famous ancient cities on Rhodes. In the surrounding area remains of occupation have been found going back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC and there are also settlements and cemeteries dating from the Mycenaean-Minoan period. Later, during historical times, the authority of the city extended over the entire north part of the island. The precise location of Ialysos itself in Archaic and Classical times is unknown, however; the “city” probably consisted of rural settlements sharing a common organisation and a common acropolis on the hill of Philerimo.