2019 Ancient Empires & Mediterranean Legends Cruises: Friday, September 20, 2019

This is our first self tour in this cruise. The Old Town of Rhodes was designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Rhodes Medieval Old Town was divided into three sections,

The area north of Sokratous Street was restricted to the Knights. This area includes the Palace of the Grand Masters, the hospital, churches and buildings used by the Knights.
The Hora, south of Sokratous Street, is where commoners lived. It's shown on the map as the “Ottoman Quarter”. It's a large area with churches, mosques, the Turkish baths, Turkish houses, cafes, shops, etc.
The Jewish Quarter is a small area to the southeast. It's primarily a residential area.

We entered the Old Town via the Virgin Mary’s Gate and right away we saw Panagia tou Bourgou (Virgin Mary of Burgos).

Panagia tou Bourgou (Virgin Mary of Burgos)

Then we walked to Evreon Martyron Square, did some shopping and then walked further north to the Street of the Knights.

The Street of the Knights

Sign of the Street of the Knights

Interesting alley from The Street of the Knights

After an interesting short walk, we came to the Grand Master Palace. It is one of our planned attractions to be visited in Rhodes Medieval Old Town. It is a museum now with its ground floor consisting of two permanent exhibits on “The city of Rhodes”. The first exhibit covers the founding of Rhodes in 408 B.C. until the Roman Empire, and the second covers the 4th century A.D. until the Ottoman occupation (1522).

The Grand Master Palace

The ticket we got including the Kollakio Wall (the Old Town Wall). It was about 1 hour walk with top view of Rhodes Old Town and wonderful view of the Clock Tower, and the Rhodes Port.