Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Across the pebbled street from the Museum of Modern Greek Art, take in the remains
of the 3rd-century-BC Temple of Aphrodite MAP GOOGLE MAP , one of the few an-
cient ruins in the Old Town.
Continuing down Platonos, the Museum of the Decorative Arts MAP
GOOGLE MAP ( 22410 72674; Plateia Argyrokastrou; admission €3; 8.30am-2.40pm Tue-
Sun) houses an eclectic array of artefacts from around the Dodecanese. It's chock-a-block
with instruments, pottery, carvings, clothing and spinning wheels and gives a colourful
view into the past. Captions are sparse; pick up explanatory notes at the door.
In the atmospheric 15th-century knights' hospital down the road is the Museum of Ar-
chaeology (Plateia Mousiou; admission €5; 8am-4pm Tue-Sun) . Its biggest draw is the ex-
quisite Aphrodite Bathing, a 1st-century-BC marble statue recovered from the local
seabed.
Wander up the Avenue of the Knights (Ippoton) that was once home to the knights
themselves. They were divided into seven 'tongues' or languages, according to their
place of origin - England, France, Germany, Italy, Aragon, Auvergne and Provence -
and each group was responsible for protecting a section of the bastion. The Grand
Master, who was in charge, lived in the palace. To this day the street exudes a noble, for-
bidding aura.
First on the right, if you begin at the eastern end of the Avenue of the Knights, is the
1519 Inn of the Order of the Tongue of Italy MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ippoton) . Next door
is the Palace of Villiers de l'sle Adam MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ippoton) . Next along is the
Inn of France MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ippoton) , the most ornate and distinctive of all the
inns.
Further along is the Chapelle Française MAP GOOGLE MAP (Chapel of the Tongue of
France; Ippoton) , embellished with a statue of the Virgin and Child. Next door is the resid-
ence of the Chaplain of the Tongue of France. Across the alleyway is the Inn of
Provence MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ippoton) , with four coats of arms forming the shape of
a cross, and opposite is the Inn of Spain MAP GOOGLE MAP (Ippoton) . Near the end of
the avenue, St John of the Collachio MAP GOOGLE MAP ( St John of the Collachio)
was originally a knights' church with an underground passage linking it to the palace
across the road.
On the right is the truly magnificent 14th-century Palace of the Grand Masters MAP
GOOGLE MAP ( 22410 23359; admission €6; 8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun) ; severely damaged
by the Turkish siege and then destroyed by an explosion in the mid-1800s, the Italians re-
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