# Rhodes Medieval Old Town: A Walking Guide > Walk Rhodes Old Town: a 3.5 km route via the Street of the Knights, Grand Master's Palace, Clock Tower, Jewish quarter, the moat and Sea Gate, with tips. URL: https://theauthenticgreece.com/rhodes-old-town/ Last updated: 2026-10-20 --- The medieval Old Town of Rhodes is best seen on foot, and a loop of about 3.5 km covers nearly all its highlights: the Street of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Master in the upper town, the Ottoman mosques and fountains around Sokratous Street, the old Jewish quarter and Hippocrates Square, then out through the Sea Gate to Mandraki harbour. Walking straight through takes under an hour; with two or three museums and a coffee stop, plan on half a day. Start early in the morning, before the cruise groups and the heat arrive. ## Quick facts - **Status:** UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, and still a lived-in town of homes, shops and schools. - **Route length:** about 3.5 km on cobbles, with some gentle slopes. - **Time needed:** 1 hour without stops; 3 to 4 hours with museums. - **Best time:** 08:00 to 10:00, or late afternoon into the evening. - **Tickets:** needed for the Palace, the Archaeological Museum and some smaller sites; prices and hours vary by season. ## A short history in stone Rhodes Town was founded in 408 BC, but what you walk through today is mostly the work of the Knights of St John, who took the island in 1309 and turned it into a fortress against the Ottomans. They divided the walled town into an upper town, the Collachium, where the knights lived, and a lower town, the Burgo, for everyone else. After a six-month siege, Suleiman the Magnificent captured Rhodes in 1522, and for almost four centuries the town was Ottoman: churches became mosques, wooden balconies and fountains appeared, and Greeks had to live outside the walls. Italy took the Dodecanese in 1912 and restored, and sometimes reinvented, much of the medieval fabric. The islands joined Greece in 1948. All of these layers are visible on a single walk. ## The walking route, step by step ### 1. Liberty Gate and Symi Square Begin at the **Liberty Gate** (Pyli Eleftherias), the wide modern opening in the walls facing Mandraki harbour, created by the Italians. Inside is **Symi Square**, where the remains of a **Temple of Aphrodite** from the third century BC lie in a sunken enclosure, a reminder that the ancient city lies under the medieval one. Continue into the small, leafy **Argyrokastrou Square**, with a fountain built from a Byzantine baptismal font and a collection of Dodecanese decorative arts housed in a Knights’ building. ### 2. The Archaeological Museum Next door, the fifteenth-century **Hospital of the Knights** houses the Archaeological Museum. The building itself is the main attraction: a vast arcaded courtyard and a long upper ward where the sick were once treated. The highlights of the collection are the marble *Aphrodite of Rhodes*, a small crouching figure washing her hair, and the funerary stele of Kalliarista. Allow an hour. ### 3. The Street of the Knights From the museum, the cobbled **Street of the Knights** (Ippoton) climbs straight up to the Palace. It is the finest Gothic street in Greece and almost entirely free of shops. The knights were organised in “tongues”, national groups such as France, Italy, Provence, Spain and Auvergne, and each had its own inn. Look up at the facades for carved coats of arms and Gothic doorways; the **Inn of France**, about halfway up, is the most elaborate. Go early and you may have the street almost to yourself. ### 4. The Palace of the Grand Master At the top stands the **Palace of the Grand Master**, built by the Knights in the fourteenth century on the site of a Byzantine fortress. It survived the Ottoman period largely intact until 1856, when a gunpowder store in the nearby Church of St John exploded and wrecked it. What you see today is largely an Italian reconstruction of 1937 to 1940, intended as a holiday residence for King Victor Emmanuel III and Mussolini. Purists grumble, but the result is impressive: grand halls with Hellenistic and Roman mosaic floors brought from Kos, heavy wooden ceilings and two good exhibitions on ancient and medieval Rhodes on the ground floor. Plan on about an hour. ### 5. The Clock Tower and the Suleiman Mosque Walk south from the Palace along Orfeos Street, where portrait artists set up in the shade of the plane trees, to the **Clock Tower** (Roloi). For a small fee you can climb its wooden stairs to the highest viewpoint in the Old Town, with views across the domes and minarets to the harbour. Just below is the pink-plastered **Mosque of Suleiman**, with its tall minaret; it is not normally open to the public, but the exterior and the view from the tower are the point. Opposite stands the **Hafiz Ahmed Aga Library**, an Ottoman library with displays of manuscripts and maps. ### 6. Into the backstreets and the moat Now leave the busy routes behind. Head south and west into the residential lanes of the lower town, where arches span the alleys, buttresses prop up old houses and pebble mosaics pave the doorways. Detour to the **Gate of St Athanasios** for a view of the walls and the deep dry **moat**. The moat was never meant to hold water; today it is a green park with paths, and walking a stretch of it, between the walls and the counterscarp, gives the best sense of the scale of the fortifications. Several gates lead down to it. ### 7. Sokratous Street and the Mustafa Pasha hammam Back towards the centre, **Sokratous Street** runs downhill from the Suleiman Mosque to Hippocrates Square. It is the old bazaar and is lined with shops selling sponges, leather, jewellery and souvenirs; quality varies, so take your time. In the quiet square of Arionos, the **Mustafa Pasha hammam**, an Ottoman bathhouse with domed rooms, is one of the best-preserved historic Turkish baths in Greece. Opening arrangements vary, so check whether it is open when you visit. ### 8. The Jewish quarter East of Sokratous lies the **Juderia**, the old Jewish quarter. Its centre is the **Square of the Jewish Martyrs**, with a fountain decorated with seahorses and a black memorial to the Jews of Rhodes. In July 1944 the Nazi occupiers rounded up the community and deported about 1,800 people to Auschwitz; only around 150 survived. A short walk away, the **Kahal Shalom Synagogue**, dating from the sixteenth century, is the oldest surviving synagogue in Greece. It has a pebble-mosaic floor, and a small museum in the former women’s prayer rooms tells the story of the community. It usually opens in the main tourist season only. ### 9. Hippocrates Square and the Sea Gate Finish at **Hippocrates Square**, where a fountain and a stone staircase lead up to the Castellania, the building where the Knights’ commercial court sat. It is lively and touristy, but a fine place for a drink. From here, the twin-towered **Sea Gate** (Marine Gate), built in 1478 and carved with figures of the Virgin, St John and St Peter, opens onto the commercial harbour. Turn left and walk along the water to **Mandraki**, with its three old windmills, the Fort of St Nicholas and the bronze deer at the harbour entrance, traditionally the site of the Colossus. ## Eating and resting along the way The restaurants on Sokratous Street and Hippocrates Square are geared to passing visitors. You will eat better in the quieter lanes of the lower town, around Agiou Fanouriou and Pythagora streets, or outside the walls in the new town. Rooftop cafés offer a cool drink with a view over the domes. Carry water in summer, as there is little shade in the open squares. ## Practical tips - **Combined visits:** the Palace and the Archaeological Museum are the two big tickets; if you only have time for one, choose the Palace for the building or the museum for the ancient art. Tickets are available at the entrances and through the official Hellenic Heritage e-ticket system. Check the latest hours, which are shorter in winter. - **Shoes:** the cobbles are uneven and polished; wear trainers, not flip-flops. - **Driving:** do not try to drive into the walled town. Park outside the walls and walk in. - **Cruise days:** mid-morning to mid-afternoon on days with several ships in port, the Street of the Knights and Sokratous Street are packed. Use those hours for the backstreets and the moat. - **Staying inside the walls:** boutique hotels in old houses are atmospheric, but check access, as some are reached only by foot and stairs. For the rest of the island, including Lindos and the south, see our [Rhodes travel guide](https://theauthenticgreece.com/rhodes-travel-guide/), and for swimming after your walk, our guide to [beaches in Rhodes](https://theauthenticgreece.com/rhodes-beaches/). If old towns are your thing, compare Rhodes with Venetian [Corfu Old Town](https://theauthenticgreece.com/corfu-old-town/), the other great walled town of the Greek islands. Boats to the neoclassical harbour of Symi leave from Mandraki; read our [guide to Symi](https://theauthenticgreece.com/symi-travel-guide/) before booking, and our [Greek ferry guide](https://theauthenticgreece.com/greek-ferries/) for longer crossings. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How long does it take to walk around Rhodes Old Town? A loop of about 3.5 km takes under an hour without stops. With the Palace of the Grand Master, the Archaeological Museum and a coffee break, allow three to four hours, or a full morning. ### Is Rhodes Old Town free to enter? Yes. The walled town is a living neighbourhood and you can walk in through any gate at any time. Tickets are needed only for individual sites such as the Palace of the Grand Master, the Archaeological Museum and some smaller museums. ### Is the Palace of the Grand Master original? Only partly. The Knights built it in the fourteenth century, but a gunpowder explosion in 1856 left it in ruins, and the Italians rebuilt it between 1937 and 1940. The mosaic floors inside were brought from Kos. ### Can you walk on the walls of Rhodes Old Town? Access to the top of the walls is limited and opening arrangements change, so check locally. The dry moat around the walls is open as a park and is the best way to appreciate the fortifications. ### Where should I start a walk in Rhodes Old Town? The Liberty Gate, facing Mandraki harbour, is the most convenient start. From there you reach the Archaeological Museum and the Street of the Knights within a few minutes. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long does it take to walk around Rhodes Old Town? A loop of about 3.5 km takes under an hour without stops. With the Palace of the Grand Master, the Archaeological Museum and a coffee break, allow three to four hours, or a full morning. ### Is Rhodes Old Town free to enter? Yes. The walled town is a living neighbourhood and you can walk in through any gate at any time. Tickets are needed only for individual sites such as the Palace of the Grand Master, the Archaeological Museum and some smaller museums. ### Is the Palace of the Grand Master original? Only partly. The Knights built it in the fourteenth century, but a gunpowder explosion in 1856 left it in ruins, and the Italians rebuilt it between 1937 and 1940. The mosaic floors inside were brought from Kos. ### Can you walk on the walls of Rhodes Old Town? Access to the top of the walls is limited and opening arrangements change, so check locally. The dry moat around the walls is open as a park and is the best way to appreciate the fortifications. ### Where should I start a walk in Rhodes Old Town? The Liberty Gate, facing Mandraki harbour, is the most convenient start. From there you reach the Archaeological Museum and the Street of the Knights within a few minutes.