There is hardly any of the five senses that are not aroused by the feel of the Old Town of Rhodes, so powerful is the surge of imagination, so little the soul still left to desire… So mighty is the spell of this eternal setting of a never-ending drama, thousands of years old! The protagonists of this super-production have left their indelible marks on the folklore, imprints that go far beyond art in stone, on wood or marble, because they live on, eternally vivid in the air, all around! From the Hellenistic era to the times of the Knights, from the centuries of the Ottoman rule through to the time of the Italians and well through to the annexation of the Dodecanese by mother Greece, the Island and the Medieval City of Rhodes have risen to become landmarks and symbols in the ethnography of the most dominant peoples of the Mediterranean. Much more than a city, this is a three-dimensional canvas that has to this day reflected secular power and folklore, a thrilling tale of people who made history and inspired myths through everyday life, be it in wartime or cultured peace.
All the entrances of the Medieval Town of Rhodes
The Gate of the canons is located at the southeast corner of the Grand Masters Palace and provided access to the battle positions on the ramparts of the walls surrounding and fortifying the Medieval City. It was constructed during Jean de Lactic’s Magistery (1437-1454) and bears his Coat of Arms. It was protected by two symmetrical, round towers, one on each side, a fact that indicates the presence of a drawbridge connecting the Gate with the ramparts. Crossing the Gate, the garrison of the Palace could have immediate access to the ramparts and the bastion that faces the famous Gate d’ Amboise and fortified the Palace. The bastion is fortified with canons (hence the name of the Gate), but many historiographers have stated that those canons were added much later as a decorative element.
A historical source of the year 1357 has it that the construction of the Gate of St. Catherine was commissioned by Grand Master Dieudonné de Gozon (1346-1353). The construction has been referred to as the Gate of St. Catherine since 1465 whereas before that it used to be designated as the “Gate of the Mole”, a name due to the fact that this Gate actually opened on the thoroughfare running through the centre of the Medieval City and all the way to the commercial harbour. As a matter of fact, this is one of the earliest constructions forming part of the fortification of the city, quite typical of the architectural influences of Provence, similar to the case of the Arnaldo Gate. As the case was for the Gate of Agios Ioannis (St. John), raw material taken from ancient constructions – namely, the mole and the Hellenistic ramparts – was used for the construction of the Gate of St. Catherine. East of the Gate there was arranged an emplacement that covered the range all over to the Mole of the Windmills; that emplacements was decommissioned already in the 15th century. It was most probably over that same period, at the time […]
Set in the eastern flank of the Medieval City, next to the entrance of the eastern part of the Moat leading to the Medieval Moat Open Air Theatre, this Gate – also referred to by the locals as the “Kova Gate” – by gives access to the urban section of the fortified city, the harbour bearing the same name and a district which, at the time of the Knights, was an outskirt. Its construction dates from the 15th century. The original site of the Gate remains unknown since by the time of the rule of Grand Master Jean de Lastic it had been barred and replaced by the Gate of the Bastion of the Tongue of Italy, within the context of the reinforcement of the Byzantine fortifications of the eastern flank.
Its construction having been launched at the time of Grand Master Antoine Fluvian (1421-1437), this Gate, located in the southern flank of the Medieval City, was completed under the rule of Grand Master De Milly (1454-1461). A bilingual inscription embedded right above this Gate heralds the completion of works on this fortification project, on the 20th of August 1457, “Overseen by Foreman Manouïl Kountis”. As a matter of fact, these fortifications bare more than one resemblance to the Krak des Chevaliers Castle in Syria. The Bastion of Provence, aka Bastion of St. John used to protect the town right at the end of the road that used to connect the town of Rhodes to the town of Lindos, along the island’s east coast. The bulky boulders used for the construction of this project are believed to originate from an ancient construction in that same area. A series of extensive interventions to the original structure of the fortifications were commissioned by Grand Master Pierre d’Aubusson (1476-1503) in the wake of the Ottoman siege, in 1480. The addition of one more bastion and the deepening of the moat were commissioned by Grand Master d’Aubusson, hence the blazon on both such items. A […]
According to the coat of arms embedded in the fortification wall around it, the Gate of St. Athanasius dates back to the times of Grand Master Jean de Lastic (1437-1454), although the blazon of the latter’s predecessor, namely Grand Master Antoine Fluvian (1421-1437) had already been placed on the watchtower of St. Athanasius having stood in that same site. Watchtowers similar to the one of St. Athanasius may be seen at the bastions of Agios Georgios (St. George) and Agios Ioannis (St. John). The Gate on the south-western flank of the fortification wall is protected by the Bastion of the Tongue of England, a key feature in the structure of the polygonal concept of the system of fortifications of Medieval Rhodes. A three level emplacement used to control the moat throughout the domain of watch of the Tongue of England. Under the rule of Grand Master Pierre d’Aubusson (1476-1503), two bulwarks came to reinforce the fortification around the Gate of St. Athanasius, giving the stocky bastion its actual, massive outlook. Right above the opening of the drawbridge there may still be seen the coat of arms of the House of d’Aubusson along with the inscription “hoc antemurale”, reminiscent of the […]
Set in the north-western flank of the fortification walls encircling the Medieval City, this Gate bears the name of Grand Master Emery d’Amboise (1503-1512), since it was under his rule that this particular project was developed. As a matter of fact, construction works on the Gate had already been launched at the time Grand Master d’Aubusson, whose initial idea had been to incorporate two earlier Gates – namely those of the Overseer and St. Anthony. Under the pressure of the havoc, sawn by the devastating earthquake that shook the island in 1513, Grand Master del Carretto (1513-1521) commissioned reconstruction works that were to come to completion under the rule of the last Grand Master of the Order while in Rhodes, namely Villiers de l’Isle-Adam (1521-1522), before Rhodes was taken over by the Ottomans (1522). Bearing more than one similarities to the Gate of Apostolos Pavlos (Paul the Apostle), the d’Amboise Gate is the most elaborate of any other module of the fortification system of the Medieval City. Proportionate to the vital character of its role as the protector of the very important yet so vulnerable entrance to the city from the west and given its proximity to the Palace of […]
Constructed at the time of Grand Master Heredia (1377-1396), this Gate used to connect the northern flank of the seaside wall to the harbour. The Shipyard Gate pertained the domain of responsibility of the Tongue of France, within short distance from the local arsenal and the Knightly shipyards, also referred to as the “Shipyard Vaults”. Two square towers used to flank the Gate on either side, both of which were razed by the Ottomans in 1910. The ramparts currently seen on top of the wall were erected during the Italian rule (1912-1943). According to historic references to this particular structure, one of the two towers among other featured the coat of arms of Grand Master d’Aubusson (1476-1503). There is a pronounced influence of Byzantine architectural style on this construction, the dimensions of which (9.9 in width, 5.2 m. in height) are justified by the projected use of these premises, what with the volume of vessels or appurtenances thereof that used to go through this Gate on their way to the shipyard. Under the Ottoman rule, this Gate may have operated as a bridge over the water to a basin designated in Turkish as “Eğri Liman” (metaphorically: the “Concealed Harbour”).
Located in the north-eastern corner of the Medieval City, this Gate used to connect the harbour of Mandraki to the De Naillac Pier. A semi-cylindrical tower in the inner part of wall bears a marble sculpture of the coat of arms of the House of Grand Master d’Aubusson (1476-1503) right next to those of the Order and Pope Sixtus IV. Right below such coats of arms there appears the effigy of Paul the Apostle and the inscription, in gothic characters, of “Sanctus Paul”. Judging from the placement of such blazons, construction works on the Gate and this part of the fortifications as a whole must have been brought to completion sometime around 1477, as part of a wider project towards reinstatement of the northern walls commissioned by Grand Master d’Aubusson. The bastion protecting Gate of Paul the Apostle is an eloquent token of masterful construction technique and a point of reference for fortification works specialists: twelve cannon holes meant to cover a wide range between the two harbours and the mole of Agios Nikolaos (St. Nicolas). A common feature amongst this Gate, the Agios Athanasios (St. Athanasius) Gate and the d’Amboise Gate was the drawbridge module, estimated to have operated […]
The Arnaldo Gate is estimated to have, up to the second half of the 14th century, connected the main dock of the medieval port to the urban quarter of the City of Rhodes. According to relevant references in a written document dating from 1391, this particular gate was traditionally used by knightly novices (Filii Arnaldi) to enter the town. In later references, this Gate is also referred to as the “Middle Gate” or the “Castellania Gate”. This Gate has been fashioned after the Provence style, as the case also is of the “Gate of the Mole” , aka “Gate of Agia Aikaterini (St. Catherine)”, which is small wonder, given that all Grand Masters in office at the time of construction of all such Gates (1309 through to 1373) originated from that particular French region. Two square towers on either side were meant to guard the Gate, of which the one on the east side crumbled as of the 1481 earthquake. The interior of the west tower was later rearranged into a chapel, namely that of Agios Georgios (St. George), bearing the coats of arms of Grand Master Juan Fernández de Heredia (1377-1396) and his second-in-command, Pierre de Culant. On the […]
This Gate is located right across from the medieval commercial harbour and the open public space of the town where multitude civic events used to take place, assorted to the trade activities of Rhodes. The Gate was constructed in 1478 under the auspices of Grand Master Pierre d’ Aubusson (1476-1503), in what is a series of deliberate resemblances to the main Gate to the town of Villeneuve- lès-Avignon, commissioned by the French sovereign Philippe le Bel two centuries earlier. On the front side of the Gate there are featured in relief the effigies of the Virgin holding the Holy Infant, St. John the Baptist and St. Peter. Also featured are the coats of arms of France, of the Order of St. John as well as the blazon of the House of d’Aubusson. Moreover, a heavily worn inscription may still be seen, acknowledging Grand Master d’Aubusson for the commissioning of this Gate, in 1478. On the inner side of the Gate there may be seen yet another inscription and the effigy of an Angel brandishing the coats of arms of the Order as well as of the House of d’Aubusson. The interior of the towers is structured in three levels of […]
