Acropolis of Rhodes

Rhodes Town


Now known as the Acropolis of Rhodes, the site of the ancient Hellenistic city of Rhodes stretches up the slopes of Monte Smith, 1km west of the Old Town. Only a few of ruins have been restored, including an elongated, tree-lined stadium from the 2nd century BC. Steps climb from a theatre, used for lectures by the Rhodes School of Rhetoric (whose students included Cicero and Julius Caesar), to the stark columns of the Temple of Pythian Apollo.

Get here on city bus 6, or by walking along Komninon and Diagoridon from St Athanasius Gate at the southwest corner of the Old Town.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Rhodes Town attractions

1. Moat Walkway Entrance

0.54 MILES

If St Athanasios Gate is your exit rather than entry point for a walk in the moat, you need to keep your eyes peeled to spot this access route, which…

2. St Athanasios' Gate

0.55 MILES

Watched over by a sturdy round tower, this is said to be the gate through which the conquering Ottoman sultan entered the city in 1522.

3. Muslim Library

0.56 MILES

This peaceful little library, founded in 1793, sits in an inviting little garden courtyard opposite the Mosque of Süleyman. Visitors can only enter the…

4. Moat Walkway Entrance

0.57 MILES

The path at the foot of the stairway that drops from the arch alongside St Anthony’s Gate passes through a 30m tunnel in the walls to reach the broadest…

5. Mosque of Süleyman

0.57 MILES

Rhodes' Old Town bears many legacies from its Ottoman past. Many churches were converted to mosques during the Turkish era, and even more Muslim houses of…

6. Roloi Clock Tower

0.57 MILES

Commanding the highest point in the Old Town, this sturdy clocktower offers a tremendous panorama. Dating originally from the 7th century, it was damaged…

7. D'Amboise Gate

0.57 MILES

Set in the northwestern flank of the citadel walls, and completed in 1512 under the rule of Grand Master Emery d'Amboise, the most impressive approach to…

8. Great Hammam

0.58 MILES

Behind its plain exterior, this 500-year-old Ottoman bathhouse is spectacular, with a finely wrought star-pierced ceiling that allows light to radiate…