Back in Rhodes, it’s about a 20 minute walk from my place to the commercial pier, and I’m here now in the lower part of Old Town.
TravelGuideToRhodes: “This church has served three different faiths in its lifetime – Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim.
It was the official church of the Knights of the Order of St. John, between 1309 and 1522, but the original occupants were the Byzantines, who erected it in the 11th century. When the knights took over Rhodes they decided that this church, which was in the same neighbourhood as the Street of the Knights and which was large enough to hold a large congregation, would best meet their needs.
“The knights immediately set about making a few structural adjustments to the style, in keeping with the Catholic designs of the time. A ribbed cross-vaulted roof was added to this inscribed cruciform Cathedral, which was also the seat of the Catholic bishop, to give it a Goth appearance. Its changes were supervised by the administration of the Grand Master Villeneuve. …
“During their reign, a beautiful and ornate bell tower stood just a metre or two from the church but when the Ottoman Turks seized the island from the Knights, they pulled down the bell tower and replaced it with a tall minaret and transformed the church into a mosque.”