11 Best Sights in Rhodes and the Dodecanese, Greece

This ruined-yet-still impressive fortress, built by the Knights of St. John in the late 15th century, rises high above the sea on the coast just north of Mt. Avrios, with good views in every direction. Above its entrance you can still make out the engraved coats of arms of two Grand Masters.

The medieval fortress of Monolithos—so named for the jutting, 750-foot monolith on which it is constructed—was built by the Knights of St. John in 1480 and rises above a fairy-tale landscape of deep-green forests and sharp cliffs plunging into the sea. Inside the stronghold there is a chapel (accessible only by a steep path and series of stone steps); while the ramparts provide magnificent views of Rhodes's emerald inland and the island of Halki. The small pebble beach of Fourni beneath the castle is a delightful place for a swim. A range of lovely tavernas are reason enough to spend a few hours here amid the mystique.

The 17th-century mosque was named after Murat Reis, an Ottoman naval commander who served in Süleyman the Magnificent's navy. The shady peaceful grounds surrounding it are a network of traditional and ornate cobblestone courtyards and a battered but proud cemetery where the marbled Ottoman grave markers remain. British expat novelist Lawrence Durrell once lived on the grounds, inspired by the tranquil beauty of the place. Amid the pronounced footprint of the Knights in Rhodes, this site is a real plunge into the lesser-seen side of Rhodes's history.

This historic cobblestone lane, known in Greek as Ippoton, runs east from the Palace of the Grand Master to the harbor, and was once part of a longer path that wound its way to the acropolis. During its medieval heyday it became a residential quarter. It is bordered on both sides by the seven "Inns of the Tongues"—auberges where visiting Knights of the Order of St. John were domiciled according to their spoken language. These were heavily renovated during the 1930s, under Italian occupation, and today mostly hold consulates and government institutions. They are nevertheless wonderfully atmospheric to wander. The most elaborate example is the Inn of France, whose ornately carved facade still bears its heraldic fleurs-de-lis patterns, and an inscription that dates the building to 1492 and its commission by Emery d'Ambroise.

About 2 km (1 mile) to the west of Rhodes's town center, atop Mt. Smith, are the freely accessible ruins of the Acropolis of Rhodes, a fine example of the stately sanctuaries that the ancient Greeks built atop many of their cities. The complex includes a theater that the Italians restored in the early 20th century, a stadium, three restored columns of the Temple of Apollo Pythios, the scrappy remains of the Temple of Athena Polias, a Nymphaia, and an Odeon. For a dramatic view, make your way to the westernmost edge of the summit, which drops via a sharp and almost inaccessible cliff to the shore below, now lined with large hotels.

A deeply shaded glen watered by seven mountain springs (epta piges in Greek) is made all the more photogenic thanks to the imported peacocks that flaunt their plumage in the woods around the pools. The waters are channeled through a 164-yard-long tunnel, which you can walk through, emerging at the edge of a cascading dam and a small man-made lake where you can swim. Here an enterprising local shepherd began serving simple fare in 1945 and his sideline turned into the busy waterside taverna and tourist site of today. Despite its many visitors, the beauty of the springs remains unspoiled.

This institution holds a rare (and unfortunately poorly kept) collection of Islamic manuscripts, including many rare Korans, from lands east of and including Turkey. Founded in 1793, this remains a striking reminder of the island's Ottoman presence. The collection and the adjacent Mosque of Süleyman are still used by members of Rhodes's Muslim community. Many are descendants of those who managed to keep their homes on the island after the Treaty of Lausanne's infamous, nationwide 1923 population exchange, when some 500,000 Muslims (primarily of Turkish origin), were forcibly relocated from Greece to Turkey following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Incorporating fragments of an ancient acropolis within its walls, the small castle was built by the Knights of St. John. A church and several chapels dot the sparse hillside around the remnants of its walls. The hilltop view takes in both sides of the narrow peninsula that Chorio crowns, with the villages of Yialos and Pedi (and their sparkling harbors) far below.

What was once the main harbor, in use since the 5th century BC, adjoins the commercial harbor on the east side of Old Town and is home to the city's municipal buildings and a picturesque former open-air market, built by the Italians, that now houses multiple cafés, souvlaki restaurants, and souvenir stores. It makes for a pleasantly twinkly walk at twilight hours, where you can people-watch those hopping between the various merchants dotted up and down the harbor and market. Day-trip cruisers, scuba dive boats, and charter yachts are the only vessels that sail from here now, but it was once one of the busiest ports of the Hellenic world. Two bronze deer statues mark the spot where legend says (wrongly) that the city's famous Colossus, a huge bronze statue of the sun god, Helios, once straddled the Mandraki Harbor entrance. Completed by the sculptor Chares of Lindos in the late 3rd century BC, the 110-foot-high figure only stood for around 50 years. In 227 BC, an earthquake razed the city and toppled the Colossus. After the calamity, the Delphic oracle advised the Rhodians to let the great Colossus remain where it had fallen. So there it lay for some eight centuries, until AD 654 when it was sold as scrap metal and carted off to Syria, allegedly by a caravan of 900 camels. Archaeologists now reckon its true location was next to the Palace of the Grand Masters.

Soaring vaults are all that remains of what was once a magnificent Gothic church, completed by the Knights of St. John in 1456. The knights believed that Mary, the mother of Jesus, provided them and Rhodes special protection against the ever-present threat of an Ottoman invasion. Now, kids play among the scattered ruins and musical events are sometimes held here.

These open-access excavations, laced through a quiet residential district, have uncovered a portion of one of the main Roman streets and many houses, including the "House of the Europa" mosaic, and part of the Roman baths (near main Roman street) that was later converted into a basilica. The gymnasium is distinguished by its partly reconstructed colonnade, and the so-called Nymphaion is a lavish public latrine that has been restored. In the Odeon, 18 rows of stone seats remain intact. The site is always open, with free access, and significant finds are labeled.