Medieval City of Rhodes, Medieval walled town in Rhodes, Greece

The Medieval City of Rhodes is the walled old town of Rhodes, divided by an inner wall into the Collachium in the north, where the Knights of Saint John had their quarters and administration, and the Chora or Burgum to the south, the commercial and residential district. Its fortifications run for more than four kilometres to the harbour, split into eight sections assigned to the Order's "tongues". The Street of Knights links the inns of these national groups, and the Great Hospital, built between 1440 and 1489, now houses the Archaeological Museum.

The Knights of Saint John took control of Rhodes in 1309 and turned the settlement into their main base in the eastern Mediterranean, building much of what still stands today. The city passed to Ottoman forces in 1522, and the new rulers added mosques and baths that still stand alongside the earlier structures.

The Street of the Knights is lined with stone inns that each belonged to a different national group within the Order, and their carved doorways and coats of arms are still visible today. Walking this street gives a clear sense of how the city was divided into distinct communities living side by side.

The old town is best explored on foot, as the streets are too narrow for vehicles and most points of interest are within easy walking distance of each other. The stone pavement is uneven in many places and some streets climb steeply, so sturdy shoes make a real difference.

The city's inner wall split the Knights' Collachium from the Chora, the commercial quarter of Greeks and western Europeans. The Jewish quarter in the east took the name La Juderia after Sephardic Jews settled there in the 16th century. The Street of Knights was paved with pebbles during the Italian restoration.