Look up this street. Cobbles underfoot, honey-coloured stone walls rising on both sides, carved coats of arms above the doorways, and hardly a modern thing in sight. This is the Street of the Knights, and it runs for about six hundred metres from here up to the Palace at the top. Many people call it the best-preserved medieval street in Europe, and standing here, it is hard to argue. Now let me tell you how it worked, because it is cleverer than it looks. The knights who ran Rhodes came from all over Europe. So, they organised themselves by language and homeland into groups they called "Tongues." There was the Tongue of France, Provence, England, Germany, Italy, Aragon in Spain, and more. Each had its own inn along this street, a kind of headquarters and clubhouse, and each was also given a stretch of the city wall to defend. Also, each Tongue had a senior officer and a specific responsibility within the Order. The French were closely associated with the hospital, the Italians with the navy, the Auvergnats with military command, and the Germans with fortifications. Other Tongues handled finance, supplies, administration, and military duties. So this street was both their neighbourhood and their chain of command. Look for the different coats of arms as you climb, the carved shields above the doors. Each one tells you which nation's knights lived behind it. Here is a lovely bit of honesty, though. This street looks almost too perfect, and that is because it was lovingly restored less than a hundred years ago, by the same Italian rulers who adored the romance of the knightly age. And because a street this old attracts stories, here is one told by guides for generations. They say that during the great siege, defenders poured boiling oil and rolled flaming barrels down this very slope onto the attackers, and some will point out scorch marks on a stone corner as proof. It is a thrilling image. In truth, it is a tour tradition more than a documented fact, so enjoy it as the storytelling it is. The real drama of the siege happened out on the walls, and we will get there. Before leaving, look to your left, where the Inn of Tongue of France stands. This is the grandest façade on the whole street, home to the French knights, and they clearly wanted everyone to know it. You can see the carved shields above the door. Among them, look for the fleur-de-lis, the three-petalled lily that is the ancient symbol of France. The French were among the most powerful of all the Tongues, and their inn is the most decorated on the street, built at the height of the knights' power here. Look a little closer, and you may spot little gargoyle creatures, including what looks like a crocodile. Medieval stone carvers loved to slip strange beasts into their work, half decoration, half warning, and the knights of Rhodes, who lived their whole lives bracing for the next siege, seem to have appreciated a monster on the wall. This street leads up to one building, the seat of the man who commanded every Tongue and every stretch of wall. It sits at the very top of the slope, so follow the map to get there.