[3] Today, the city of Rhodes is an important Greek urban center and popular international tourist destination.

In medieval times, Rhodes was an important Byzantine trading post, as also a crossroads for ships sailing between Constantinople and Alexandria.

In the early years of the divided Roman Empire, the Isaurians, a mountain tribe from Cilicia, invaded the island and burned the city.

In 1444, the Mamluk fleet led by Aynal Gecut laid siege to Rhodes, but the Knights, aided by the Burgundian naval commander Geoffroy de Thoisy, beat off the Muslim attack.

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman Empire began a rapid expansion, and in 1480 Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror sent an invasion force to Rhodes commanded by Mesih Pasha.

In this first Ottoman Siege of Rhodes, the defenders repelled Turkish attacks from both landward and seaward sides and the invaders left the island in defeat.

The defeat halted a concurrent invasion of the Italian peninsula by Ottoman forces and prevented possible Muslim incursion and control of Western Europe.

By the time of his death in 1521, Rhodes possessed among the strongest fortifications of any Christian bastion in the world, including underground passages to the moat that could have quickly been blown up in case of withdrawal.

The vastly outnumbered Knights made a spirited defense of the city and inflicted heavy casualties upon the Ottoman besiegers.

After the establishment of their sovereignty on the island, the Ottoman Turks converted most of the churches into mosques and transformed the major houses into private mansions or public buildings.

The Knights period façades with their sculptured decorations, the arched gates and hewn stone walls were enriched with the random character of the Ottoman architecture adapted to the local climate and culture.

Ιn the 19th century, the city was the capital of the Eyalet of the Archipelago, but the decline of the Ottoman Empire resulted in the general neglect of the town and its buildings, which further deteriorated due to the strong earthquakes that often plague the area.

[13] Furthermore, an Institute for the study of the History and Culture of the region was established, and major infrastructure work was done to modernize Rhodes.

[14] One of the first decrees of the Greek government designated those areas as reserved for future excavations and a number of edifices as safeguarded buildings.

In July 1944, the Nazi authorities ordered the deportation of over 1,700 Jews of Rhodes including men, women, and children, of whom 1,200 were murdered at Auschwitz.

[15] In 1957, a new city plan was approved by a decree and in 1960 the entire medieval town was designated as a protected monument by the Ministry of Culture.

State facilities by category: The last years two private schools were also established and offer classes from primary to lyceum education with one located within city limits, Rodion Paideia.

Erected less than 20 years ago, it is a modern facility with many departments as well the base for EKAV ambulances serving the city and island's northern part.

Hospital is also equipped with a helicopter landing zone being able to accept urgent cases via airlifts from the rest Dodecanese islands.

During tourism season, international flights connect the island with numerous European cities and with Israel, Egypt and Lebanon.

Plans for a 16 km tram network consisting of 2 lines and 13 stations were presented years ago but since then nothing further emerged probably due to lack of funds.

City's road network is mostly old consisting mainly of narrow and one way streets and major arteries can't really cope with increased traffic making congestion unavoidable especially rush hours.

Parking especially around city centre and during market hours as well summer season is extremely difficult due to lack of free spaces although it is monitored by the municipality imposing a fee.

City also hosts AS Dodekanisos, the pride of the Aegean that competes and stars in the national basketball league for handicapped people.

Finally, jiu jitsu, karate, tae-kwon-do and other Eastern oriented sports are available with local teams that enjoy sporadic national success.