Rhodes Fortress

Among the main attractions of the Greek city of Rhodes is the Rhodes Fortress, which at one time was a powerful defensive structure. Nowadays, the Rhodes Fortress is protected by UNESCO as a valuable architectural monument and serves as a museum.

The famous Rhodes Fortress was built in the Middle Ages, at the same time it served as the residence of the master of the Knights Hospitaller. According to historians, this citadel has been completely impregnable for a long time.

For more than 213 years, the powerful defensive building served as the main defense against the Muslim people. It was thanks to the Rhodes Fortress that the city of Rhodes managed to stand for more than Constantinople for seventy years. This structure was so powerful that it could withstand up to 1,000 cannon shots daily.

Serious work on strengthening the fortress was carried out in 1520 at the initiative of Master Fabrizio del Caretto. As a result of this work, the structure acquired several more towers and moats, and the walls themselves became even denser. Due to this, the defensive structure performed its direct duties for another two years. And only in 1522, the walls of the fortress could not resist the army of Suleman the Great, who held the siege for six months. The fortress was guarded by only 7 thousand soldiers and mercenaries, against whom 100,000 troops of Suleman the Great fought. The fortress was bombed every day with cannonballs and letters threatening the civilian population. During the negotiations, the sultan released the garrison of the fortress and promised not to touch the inhabitants. On January 1, 1523, the Knights Hospitaller left the island forever, sailing away on 3 galleys. After this historic event, the fortress began to protect Turkish territory from enemy raids until 1912. It was in this year that the local lands were conquered by the Italians, and only since 1947 Rhodes became part of Greece.

Nowadays, the ancient fortress of Rhodes is considered the longest of its kind in the whole of Europe. The medieval wall stretches for fifteen kilometers and surrounds a ring of city houses, and even entire neighborhoods. By the way, people still live in some of the local apartment buildings these days.

The center of the medieval city has not been inhabited for a long time, but the local atmosphere is filled with mysticism. All buildings are in very good condition. Traveling here, it sometimes seems that this walk was made in the distant past.

You can walk endlessly through the ancient squares near the Rhodes fortress, because everything is very interesting and informative.