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. Today, the Rhodes Fortress is guarded by UNESCO as a valuable architectural monument and serves as a museum.

The famous Rhodes Fortress was built in the Middle Ages, then it served as the residence of the master of the Order of the Knights-Hospitaliators. In the words of historians, this citadel has long been completely impregnable.

For more than 213 years, a powerful defensive building has served as the main protection against the Muslim people. It was thanks to the Rhodes Fortress for seventy years that the city of Rhodes managed to survive more than Constantinople. This structure was so powerful that it withstanded up to 1000 cannon shots daily.

Serious work to strengthen the fortress was done in 1520 for the initiatives of the master Fabrizio del Caretto. As a result of such work, the structure acquired several more towers and ditches, and the walls themselves became even denser. Thanks to this, defensive construction has 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 a siege for six months. The fortress guarded only 7 thousand soldiers and mercenaries against which 100,000 troops of Suleman the Great fought. The fortress was bombed every day with kernels and threatening letters to 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 hospital knights left the island forever, sailing in 3 galleries. After this historic event, the fortress began to protect Turkish territory from enemy raids until 1912. It was this year that the local lands were recaptured by Italians, and only since 1947 did Rhodes become owned by Greece.

Nowadays, the ancient fortress structure of Rhodes is considered the longest-running building in all of Europe. The medieval wall stretches for fifteen kilometers and surrounds city houses with a ring, and even entire blocks. By the way, in some of these residential buildings and today people live.

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 presented in very good condition. Traveling here, sometimes it seems that this walk is perfect in the distant past.

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