Medieval City of Rhodes

The Order of St John of Jerusalem occupied Rhodes from 1309 to 1523 and set about transforming the city into a stronghold. It subsequently came under Turkish and Italian rule. With the Palace of the Grand Masters, the Great Hospital and the Street of the Knights, the Upper Town is one of the most beautiful urban ensembles of the Gothic period. In the Lower Town, Gothic architecture coexists with mosques, public baths and other buildings dating from the Ottoman period.

Criterion (ⅱ): The City of Rhodes exerted a significant influence in the Mediterranean towards the end of the Medieval Period. It was known as an invulnerable “Frankish” city for a long time.

Criterion (ⅳ): The cultural heritage objects remaining in the city show that the Order of St. John, formed during the Crusades, maintained the city for a long time despite the extreme fear that they might be occupied at any time. The buildings in the city are also architectural reflections of this aspect of the island’s history. It is also worth noting here that the Colossus of Rhodes was once one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. It needs to be remembered that the history of architecture here did not end with the fall of the city in 1523, but continued until 1912, when it fell to the Italians, in the Islamic buildings such as mosques and public baths that were built under Ottoman rule.

Criterion (ⅴ): The old town of Rhodes shows a mixture of Frankish and Ottoman-style buildings, the result of acculturation. There were changes in the Gothic architectural styles amid the encounter with the Dodecanese tradition. Ornamental elements were added to them in 1523 and thereafter.

Country: Greece
Location: Prefecture of Dodecanese
Coordinates: N36 26 49.992, E28 13 40.008
Inscription year: 1988
Inscription criteria: ⅱ, ⅳ, ⅴ