Discover a Worth Seeing Place – The Turkish Quarter in Rhodes Old Town
The Rhodes Island has many attraction and sights for you to explore. The centre of capital of the island is a well preserved ancient town bordered by medieval walls and gates. The Old town attracts tourists from all over the world for Rhodes holidays because of the unique setting and environment that it provides on Rhodes Island.
Old Town of Rhodes:
Containing a mixture of historic, Ottoman, Byzantine and medieval monuments, the Old town of Rhodes on Rhodes Island has been declared as one of the UNESCO’s World’s Heritage sites.
This Medieval town of Rhodes is a distinctive place and contains some very impressive sites. The Turkish Quarter along with the Jewish Quarter and the Quarter of Knight’s composes the old town of Rhodes.
The Old Town’s Kollakio is the place where majority of the medieval landmarks are situated. You can enter the ancient town of Rhodes through nine of its eleven gates which are called ‘Pyles’ and the amazing architectural designs and structures inside the gates reflect the Turkish, Byzantine and Latin styles.
Therefore, when coming for Rhodes Holidays, visiting the Turkish Quarter is a must if you want to discover the historic treasures of old town.
Exploring the Turkish Quarter:
The mosques that are now found in the west part of medieval town were previously Byzantine churches were present, in this part of the town you will find small squares each having a fountain and domed houses with front sides decorated with beautiful arched rows.
From both the sides of the Socrates Street, narrow lanes take one right into the heart of the medieval town. You can reach the Turkish quarter by using the narrow road here called the Hippodamus Street. The 15th century’s Agia Paraskevi church is located on the right-hand side. As you go beyond this street you will reach the next one which is called the Arhelaou Street . Going farther leads one to the Arionos Square, the mosque of Sultan Mustafa and the Turkish Hamam.
Suleiman Mosque and the Hammam Baths:
In the Turkish Quarter perhaps the most attractive structure is that of Suleiman Mosque with a pink coloured dome. Their Turkish legacies include the Turkish ‘Hammam’ baths that are still operated by the local municipals.
If you want to see the famous public baths and the mosque of Sultan Mustafa in Arionos square, you can take the street called Archelaou which is located behind the Suleiman mosque. These are the sacred Turkish baths (hammam) that have been fully restored.
Turkish library:
The Turkish library in Turkish Quarter is positioned on the other end of the street called Archelaou Street. The library was build in 1794 by Ahmed Hafuz. In the library there are some great collections of Turkish, Persian and Arab manuscripts. Amongst these manuscripts the important ones include
- One richly ornamented Koran of 1412
- An anonymous chronicle of the 1522 siege
- One richly ornamented Koran of 1540
Kurmale-Medresse:
Apollonion Street which is located on the western side of mosque of Suleiman will lead you to the historic church of St. George. George. During Ottoman occupation this church was known with the name of Kurmale-Medresse which means the school with the date palm and was used as a medresse.
On Rhodes Island a popular Accommodation solution is a Aparthotel Rhodes or one of the Rhodes Town Hotels that you can avail during your Rhodes Holidays
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