Palace of the Grand Masters

Palace of the Grand Masters Review

The Knights of St. John built most of their monuments along a street known as the Street of the Knights (Ippoton), which descends from the Palace of the Grand Masters, at the highest spot of the medieval city, toward the commercial port. This cobbled lane is a little more than a third of a mile long and follows the route that once connected the ancient acropolis to the harbor. This medieval assemblage is bordered on both sides by the Inns of the Tongues, where the Knights supped and held their meetings. The Palace of the Grand Masters of the Knights of Rhodes (to use its official name) is a massive affair with fairy-tale towers, crenellated ramparts, and more than 150 rooms. Situated at the top of the Street of the Knights, it is the place to begin a tour. Unscathed during the Turkish siege of Rhodes in 1522, the palace was destroyed in 1856 by an explosion of ammunition stored nearby in the cellars of the Church of St. John; the present structure—a Mussolini-era Italian reconstruction—was rebuilt in a storybook, pseudo-medieval style then all the rage in the early 20th century and was later used as a holiday abode for King Vittorio Emmanuele III of Italy. Today, the palace's collection of antiques and antiquities includes Hellenistic and Roman mosaic floors from Italian excavations in Kos, and in the permanent exhibition downstairs, extensive displays, maps, and plans showing the layout of the city will help you get oriented before wandering through the labyrinthine Old Town.