The Street of the Knights (Odos Ippoton) is the straight, cobbled street that climbs from the old Hospital of the Knights to the Palace of the Grand Master in the Old Town of Rhodes. Along it stand the inns of the 'tongues', the national branches of the Knights of St John, who ruled Rhodes from the early 14th century until 1522. It looks almost untouched since their day, although that is partly the work of 20th-century restorers.
The Street of the Knights at a glance
- Where: in the Collachium, the knights' quarter in the north of the Old Town, running uphill from Museum Square to the Palace of the Grand Master.
- Built: the inns mostly date from the 15th and early 16th centuries; the street was restored by the Italian authorities in the early 20th century.
- What it is today: a pedestrian street whose inns house offices and institutions; most are not open to visitors, so this is a street you admire from outside.
- World Heritage: part of the Medieval City of Rhodes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.
- Time needed: 15–20 minutes to walk up slowly, longer if you combine it with the Palace.
Eight tongues and one street
The Knights Hospitaller, a military religious order, took Rhodes in the early 14th century after losing their last foothold in the Holy Land. The knights came from across Catholic Europe and were grouped into 'tongues' by language and origin: Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, England, Germany and later Castile. Each tongue had an inn, a headquarters where its knights met, ate and received guests. Several of them stood on this street, inside the Collachium, the walled-off quarter where the knights lived apart from the rest of the town.
In 1522, after a siege of about six months, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent took Rhodes, and the knights left the island; they later settled in Malta. Under Ottoman rule the inns became private houses and gained later additions. In 1856 a gunpowder explosion destroyed the knights' church of St John near the top of the street and badly damaged the Palace. After Italy took the Dodecanese in 1912, the Italian authorities restored the street and removed many of the later additions, and the Palace was rebuilt in the late 1930s.
What to look for
- Coats of arms: carved shields of grand masters, knights and tongues above doors and windows all the way up. On the Inn of France you can find the arms of Philippe Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, the grand master who surrendered Rhodes in 1522.
- The Inn of France: the most richly decorated facade on the street, with a small chapel beside it and a Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child in a niche.
- The arch across the street: beyond it, the Inn of Provence on the right and the Inn of Spain on the left face each other.
- The Hospital wall at the bottom: the long north side of the Knights' Hospital, begun in 1440 and finished in 1489, now the Archaeological Museum.
- The Gothic arcade at the top, where the street ends in front of the Palace of the Grand Master.
Tips for your visit
- Walk it uphill, from Museum Square towards the Palace, so the facades and the Palace unfold in front of you.
- Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon. In the middle of the day the street fills with groups, especially when cruise ships are in port.
- The old paving stones are worn smooth and can be slippery: wear shoes with some grip.
- Look up: many of the best details, such as coats of arms and window frames, sit well above eye level.
Nearby
- Palace of the Grand Master: the fortress-palace at the top of the street, rebuilt by the Italians, with ancient mosaic floors brought from Kos.
- Archaeological Museum: the former Hospital of the Knights at the bottom of the street, with a fine Gothic courtyard and finds from across the island.
- Church of Our Lady of the Castle: the Byzantine church at the foot of the street that served as the knights' cathedral, now a museum.
- Sokratous Street and the Mosque of Suleiman: the Old Town's busy main street, leading up to the Ottoman mosque at its top end, a few minutes' walk away.
See Rhodes with World City Trail
Our Rhodes scavenger hunt turns the medieval Old Town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 30 minutes of walking. The Street of the Knights is one of the stops, along with the Palace of the Grand Master. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Greek.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Rhodes.
Play the Rhodes scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Rhodes →
Play the outdoor escape game in Rhodes →
Facts checked in October 2026.