his is a vital town with approximately 6,000 residents who live and work in the same buildings where the Knights of St. John lived neartly six centuries ago: a living monument, one of the few in Europe, if not the world. The town around the castle was divided as it is today, in two parts: the northern, which was called the Collachium and the southern, and larger one, called Chora or Bourgo. An interior wall divided the two sections.

he northern section was and is dominated by the Palace of Grand Masters, the well known Castello, the acropolis of the Knights. The Collachium also contains the official churches of the Order, as well as the Knights' apartments. The town was surrounded by its flamed gardens, the most impressive that of the Palace of Grand Masters. In the Medieval town you should visit :

etting off from Mandraki harbor you enter Symi Square (also called Arsenal Square) through the Liberation Gate. Nearby you can find the ruins of a Temple of Aphrodite (3rd century BC), the Langue of Auvergne (built in 1507) and the Municipal Gallery. From here the street leads to Argyrokastro Square that contains the Archaelogical Institute, one of the oldest buildings around the Castle. Nearby is the Folklore Museum and the Church of Our Lady of the Castle (Cathedral of the Knights).

he Knights' Hospital began to built in 1440 by the Grand Master de Lastic and was completed in 1484 by the Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusso. The building is in perfect condition and underlines the original purpose of the Order, which was to house and treat suffering pilgrims from the Holy Lands and the Crusaders. Now it houses the Archaelogical Museum of Rhodes. Large and imposing, it is perhaps the most important building of the Knights in the town.

he Street of the Knights was the main street in the Collachium and is perhaps the best preserved medieval street one will find in Europe, the only one that has retained its authentic character.

During the early years of the Turkish occupation the buildings were used as barracks. The earlier shape of the street was later restored by Italian archaelogists. The street has a length of about 200 m. and a width of 6 m. and goes uphill toward the Palace of the Grand Masters. Right and left of it are the inns of the various nationalities, The Langues. You should not miss a visit to the Langue of France with its cute Chapel, the Langue of Provence and the Langue of Spain.

pposite the church of Saint John, at the highest point of the Castle, stands the Palace of the Grand Masters which was the administrative center and the Knights' 'Acropolis'. It had very imposing dimensions (80x75 m) and defensive fortifications.

On the site where the palace stands (Castello) the 'Lower Acropolis' of ancient Rhodes and the Byzantines once stood. During the early years of the Turkish occupations was used as a prison. The palace was completely destroyed by the great explosion at the church of St. John in 1865. The Italians rebuilt it on the ruins of the old one as faithfully as possible, and completed it in 1940. Nowadays the visitor can see its floors decorated with marvelous mosaics of the Hellenistic and Roman period brought from Kos and statues of the same period.

ust outside the inner wall of the Collachium you arrive at the long bazaar, where you can find the Mosque of Suleiman and the Turkish Library Achmed Hafouz. At a short distance the visitor can reach the Sultan Mustapha Mosque, the outdoor Theater of the Old Town where folk dances are held every evening at summer, the famous 'Castallenia' that was built by Knights, the Square of Jewish Martyrs, the church of the Holy Trinity, the Gothic church of Sainte Marie de Bourg and the Palace of the Admirals.

he main contribution that the first Knights to arrive made to the fortification of the town, were the repairs to the old Byzantine walls. These major works which gave the walls their final form were carried out by the Grand Master d' Aubusson, particularly after the failure of the Turkish siege of 1480.

During this period the round towers appeared and became dominant because they were able to deflect cannon balls, unlike the square towers which were more vulnerable. The thickness of the walls was raised to 12 meters and the moat made more than 21 meters wide. The walls (approximately four kilometers long) were divided into sections and each section was guarded by one of the Order's Langues. The walls of the Castle constitute even today an interesting example of the military architecture of the medieval period.

Photos and text taken from "Rhodes - The brilliant island of the sun" (Toubis Editions)

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