Visit the Old Town
The old town was built by the Knights of the Order of St. John who arrived in Rhodes in the 13th century. The impressive Castle of the Knights of St. John or the Knights of Rhodes is now located on the NW side of the castle of the Old Medieval City, the so-called, during the years of the Knighthood (1309-1522), Kollakio or Chateu. Your wandering in the alleys of the Old Town will bring you in front of the Knights’ Street, which is built on a street of the ancient city. This is the main street of the Old Town, 6 meters wide, where you will find most medieval buildings. In 1522, after several failed attempts, the city of Rhodes finally falls into the hands of the Ottomans and the period of Ottoman rule begins (1522-1912). We would not characterize this period as one of the most brilliant for the city, but rather the opposite.
The fortifications and most of the medieval buildings are preserved but the conversions to the uses are important. The Palace of the Grand Master is turned into a prison, the Hospital of the Knights into a barracks, while at the same time many mosques are built, with impressive minarets and baths. The Greeks no longer had the right to live within the walls. Those who maintained shops and generally those who worked in it, were forced to leave it at sunset. In 1912 a new period begins for Rhodes, when it is occupied by the Italians. The period of Italian occupation (1912-1948) is a period of development and transformation of the city. Other important sights of the Old Town, which apart from medieval monuments, houses a whole mosaic of ancient, Byzantine, Ottoman but Italian monuments are the Temple of Aphrodite, the Knights’ Hospital, which houses the Archaeological Museum, the Byzantine Museum, the Byzantine Museum Museum of Decorative Arts, Suleiman Mosque and Castellania Palace. However, the Old Town is not only suitable for romantic walks. It is, as we have said, a living State, which is flooded -always with respect to tradition, as any road intervention is prohibited- from all kinds of shops, restaurants, taverns, while its nightlife is proverbial.
Access: It is located in the heart of the city and the best way to get around it is on foot.
You may also like
