Back to Rhodes the city for a tour of the old town.
The “moat” in front of the first wall of the medieval castle. The round balls are for catapults, not cannon. The guide claimed they weighed about 250 pounds apiece. The guides maintained that the moats were never flooded but were designed to provide a killing field for the archers. The castle wall was lined with archery loopholes designed to give each archer about a 60 degree field of fire out of an aperture that was only about 4-5 inches wide. They did this by chipping out the inside of the wall. Of course, at the thin point, one of those stone balls would crash right through but I guess it was an acceptable trade off.
The second moat, between the first and second walls. It is now converted into a promenade.
Just some various shots of the fortifications....European military architecture, a long way from home!
Inside the old town....the Ottoman Turks built their mosques after forcing the Knights out in 1522.
The Knights of St John, or Hospitalers, were an intriguing bunch made up of various nationalities each of which had its own virtual “club house” on this street.
The building with the turrets is now a bank or something...re-cycling at its best.
I got this shot through an open doorway. The houses are built in Roman style, around a central courtyard, although this one had a grand staircase built in it.
![Image](http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/bob01_album/Trip07235.jpg)
The outer sea wall....the Turks easily breached this and besieged the castle which surrendered but was not successfully stormed. Suleyman the Magnificent is alleged to have sent an army of 200,000 to subdue about 7,000 Knights so the battle would not have been in much doubt.
There is something incongruous about modern cars and ships alongside ancient walls...but I think one could learn to live there.
Before leaving I caught this shot of sunset over the old harbor. I must have been getting poetic!
![Image](http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd54/bob01_album/Trip07169.jpg)
Something is wrong here. War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption, and the Ice Capades. Something is definitely wrong. This is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed.
-- George Carlin