Lost in the streets of Rhodes old town

An ordinary tourist port, a promenade flanked by fascist buildings, an anonymous modern town in which residences from the 60s, chains of shops and arid public gardens alternate, do not give a hint on what is hidden within the intact walls of the historic city: a patchwork of stone alleys, remains of medieval cathedrals and Doric temples, squares invaded by the tables of restaurants under centuries-old magnolias, mosques and fountains.

Although extremely touristy, the old town of Rhodes still manages to keep its timeless charm intact: the walled city is crossed by two main streets, lined with shops of all kinds and invaded by travelers arriving in large groups for day trips.

These cross the two main districts of the agglomeration, the Jewish and Turkish quarters. The Turkish quarter is certainly more lively, full of shops and restaurants, but obviously more popular and less quiet.

There are two large mosques, and at the western end is the imposing Palace of the Great Masters of the Knights, a fortress worth a visit, with its elegant rooms paved with majolica and mosaics, and unexpectedly little beaten by tourists.

The Jewish Quarter is the right place to escape the crowds: there are few shops and some interesting restaurants, but the alleys are mostly deserted and ideal to get lost walking without following the map. Take the main street, Aristotelous, which flows into the lively Sokratous, and from here turn the corner into an alley without shops and then zigzag through the walls of the inner courtyards, between the colorful doors, between the peeling walls painted blue and yellow, among the sparse shops that produce leather sandals. You will almost never go back over the same alleyway, and the beauty is precisely this, getting lost in ungroomed streets and then suddenly finding yourself in a known place.

The most beautiful street in the old town is undoubtedly Ippoton, commonly known as the Street  of the Knights of Rhodes, where the residences, called hotels, of the knights belonging to different nations, were located, and which today looks like an orderly sequence of portals surmounted by coats of arms made of honey-colored stone.

The best time to get lost in the medieval city is early in the morning, after sunrise, when the light begins to flood the still deserted streets of Rhodes, when the restaurants are closed, when the smell of bread baked by the bakeries invades the alleys, when the first ferry still does not land, and the sleeping city is all for you.