Description of the attraction
One of the main and most interesting architectural sights of the city of Rhodes is the old fortress walls, which have reliably protected the city and its inhabitants for centuries.
Even in ancient times, largely due to its favorable geographical location, Rhodes was a major trade center in the Eastern Mediterranean. Even then, the ancient city was surrounded by defensive walls that survived more than one siege. Massive fortifications protected the city and the Byzantine era. At the beginning of the 14th century, the island of Rhodes came under the control of the Knights of the Order of St. John. During the reign of the Knights Hospitallers on the island, the architectural appearance of the island's capital underwent dramatic changes, significantly expanded the city and its borders. Fearing, and not unreasonably, possible attempts to seize Rhodes, the Johannites, who had vast experience in the construction of fortifications, paid special attention to the construction of new fortress walls, the remains of which we can see today (the Byzantine fortifications were almost completely demolished).
The Rhodes fortress was built on the principle of a bastion system of fortifications - huge earthen ramparts fortified with stone were equipped with bastions, escarps, counter-escarps, glacis and deep ditches. By the second half of the 15th century, the city was finally reliably protected from both land and sea sides, although some additional work to strengthen the walls was carried out at the end of the 15th century. Nevertheless, in 1522 the troops of Sultan Suleiman still managed to capture the fortress and for the next four centuries the fortress walls reliably protected the Turks who had already settled behind them.
Today the fortress of Rhodes is one of the best preserved and most impressive fortifications from the Middle Ages. Even today you can see the famous gates of Amboise, the gates of Saint John, the gates of Saint Athanasius, the Del Caretto bastion, located at the northern end of the port pier and which was also part of the city fortifications of the fort of Saint Nicholas, and much more.
