A day wandering in Rhodes Old City

mosaic from Cos now inside the Palace

The city of Rhodes is one of the top tourist destinations for European vacationers and Mediterranean cruises, for good reason.  The weather is beautiful, the history, absorbing, and the Old City, fascinating to stroll.  The commercial section is like the old bazaars that can be found all over the Muslim world, with tiny shops lining narrow cobblestoned alleyways.  Lots of people live in the Old City as well, so it is a busy place.  The island’s history is a yo-yo, bouncing between Christian and Muslim, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Ottoman (for 400 years), Italian and, now Greek. 

The Palace

My ancient history books pictured the Colossus of Rhodes, built by Charles of Lindos in 280 BC, but gone this last 1700 years.  The Colossus reportedly dominated the harbor, at a height of 108’, but no one seems to be sure exactly how big or where it was.  Still standing because it was rebuilt and restored by the Italian conquerors in the 1930’s is the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes.  Our favorite site in the city, the Palace today houses magnificent mosaics pilfered by the Italians from Roman ruins on Cos after a massive earthquake destroyed much of that island and its beautiful Roman structures.  The Italians meticulously reconstructed the mosaics to grace their renovated palace, before archaeological standards dictated that relics remain in place at their original sites.  I’m grateful we could see these. 

drawings of mosaics

There is an amazing exhibition at the Palace of an Italian artist’s detailed paintings of the mosaics.  He drew and colored each tiny stone so that the preservationists could reconstruct the mosaics exactly as they were found on Cos.

The Knights of Rhodes built the Palace when the Ottomans kicked them out of Palestine in the early 14^th century.  They also built massive walls to protect themselves against sieges, mostly launched by the Ottomans.  The walls lasted until the Turks finally won in 1522.  Most of the churches were converted to mosques.  Today, Rhodes has minarets and Orthodox domes poking skyward amidst the buildings below. 

clock tower, dome of mosque and minaret

We walked the medieval walls of the Old City.  There are 3 walls, with 2 moats in between.  They are massive, built to withstand sieges, which they had to do often.  Ultimately, however, the Turks built huge assault weapons and towers that enabled them to breach the walls and take over Rhodes.

the cats of the Old City

Cats are here in abundance, looking quite well fed, probably from the leftovers outside the many restaurants.  I’ve only seen a couple of dogs, on leashes, so not roaming the streets.  Otherwise, there’s not much wildlife, not even the hordes of seagulls you usually see around ports.  There are, however, enormous yachts filling the slips in the port.

The Aegean is a gorgeous sapphire blue.  Unlike Santorini, which has only a few tiny beaches, Rhodes is surrounded by beaches, generally very rocky and completely full of lounge chairs and umbrellas.  This is the end of the tourist season, so not so many bodies on the beaches, but cruise ships sailed in and out of the ports several times a day. 

cruise ship in Rhodes' port