Rhodes Island, Greece

Our first cruise stop outside of Athens was Rhodes Island.

Map Something the locals pointed out to us was that they believe the island is shaped like a dolphin… which I can kind of see.

Rhodes has a very interesting history as it has been conquered by every major empire in the region. It has changed hands between the Ottomans, Romans, the Spanish, British, and even the Germans.

Odd thing is, none of them destroyed any of the previous occupants' buildings! They just added on to them and a single building may have several different architectural styles.

This gate marks the entrance to tourist trap alley, but you have to make the journey through to see some very cool architecture. The stone wall around the gate runs an impressive 15 Miles (24 KM) long.

This is known as the Street of the Knights and is considered the oldest maintained Med-Evil road in the world.

On the corner here, you will find the Hospital of the Knights. It was a Catholic military unit that was headquartered in Cypress. They built several hospitals that would help the common and poor out free of charge. They are also known by their longer name, “The order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

This is the Palace of the Grand Master of Knights and was built upon the foundation of a temple dedicated to Sun God Helios. It is speculated that the original foundation was built in 280 BC. It still serves as a functioning administrative building, most recently used by the European Union to hold a summit in 1988 when Greece controlled the rotating presidency.

Here is the remains of an Ottoman Empire Muslim Library, that is still in use to this very day.

This is a steam bath facility, left over from the Romans and also still used by tourist and the current residents.

Here is the Church of the Virgin Mary of the Burgh, built in the 14th century by the Hospital of Knights, it was later converted to a Muslim Monastery when the Ottomans took over the Island. In WWII, the island was also heavily bombed, but this structure was miraculously unharmed.

Other parts of the church however, were completely leveled by British Bombers as they tried to take the island from the German and Italian armies holding it at the time. This exposed the huge catacombs that existed under the church.

Here is the center of the tourist area and is a great place for lunch/shopping. I found a decently priced liquor store around the corner(link here) to stock up on provisions before heading back to the cruise ship. The dude that ran it was super cool and his selection was massive.

This was my favorite stop on the cruise and there is so much more of the island to explore. I’ll have to come back here and get a rental car someday.