At the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece.
In 408 BC, Rhodes was founded. The city thrived commercially and had strong economic ties with their main ally, Ptolemy I Soter. In 305 BC, the Antigonids of Macedonia besieged Rhodes in an attempt to break the Rhodo-Egyptian alliance. They could never penetrate the city. When a peace agreement was reached in 304 BC, the Antagonids lifted the siege. To celebrate their unity, the Rhodians sold the equipment which they left behind and used the money to erect an enormous statue of their sun god. The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes in about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point -- the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument. However, an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection. Ptolemy's offer was declined.
For almost a millennium, the statue laid broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria.
It has long been believed that the Colossus stood in front of the Mandraki harbor straddling its entrance. Given the height of the statue and the width of the harbor mouth, it is impossible . Moreover, the fallen Colossus would have blocked the harbor entrance. Recent studies suggest that it was erected either on the eastern promontory of the Mandraki harbor, or even further inland. The project was commissioned by the Rhodian sculptor Chares. To build the statue, the outer bronze skin parts were cast. The base was made of white marble, and the feet and ankle of the statue were first fixed. The structure was gradually erected as the bronze form was fortified with an iron and stone framework. To reach the higher parts, an earth ramp was built around the statue. When the colossus was finished, it stood about 33 m (110 ft) high. And when it fell, "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb".
Although it disappeared from existence, colossus inspired modern artists such as French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi best known by his famous work: The Statue of Liberty.

