The Greek Ministry of Culture launched a project to protect and promote the Palace of the Grand Master, in the Medieval City of Rhodes, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
According to an announcement, the Technical University of Crete was tasked to prepare a research program to record the current situation, interpret the problems, and prepare proposals for the restoration of the emblematic monument.
“The Medieval City of Rhodes is one of the enormous comparative advantages, not only of Rhodes and the Dodecanese but of Greece, ” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said.
“It constitutes a residential complex, unique in our homeland, which has been preserved almost intact, with its fortifications and urban organization, public buildings, temples and residences. A dominant and major monument is the building complex of the Grand Master’s Palace,” she added.
The 14th-century palace of the Grand Master in Rhodes
The Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes is one of the most iconic medieval castles in Greece. Located in the Old Town of Rhodes, it was originally built by the Knights Hospitaller in the 14th century when they controlled the island.
The palace served as the administrative center and residence of the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John. It is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Greece.
It is located at the northern end of the fortified medieval city of Rhodes and has been influenced in its formation by the street plan of the ancient city. The architectural composition is characterized by asymmetries and variations in the distribution of volumes, the result of successive building phases.
The palace was originally built in the late 7th century as a Byzantine citadel. After the Knights Hospitaller occupied Rhodes and other Greek islands including Kalymnos and Kastellorizo in 1309, they converted the fortress into their administrative center and the palace of their Grand Master.
After the Ottoman Empire captured Rhodes, the palace was used as a command center and prison. Some parts of the palace were damaged by an ammunition explosion in 1856. When the Kingdom of Italy occupied Rhodes in 1912, the Italians made the palace a holiday residence for the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, and later for Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, whose name can still be seen on a large plaque near the entrance.
The Dodecanese, including Rhodes, officially joined Greece on March 7, 1948, and the palace has since become a major tourist attraction.
Related: Ten Things to Do on the Greek Island of Rhodes