Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes

History

The palace now standing in Rhodes occupies a site where, according to recent research, the foundations of an ancient temple to the sun god Helios once lay, and it is thought this could have been the location of the Colossus of Rhodes in ancient times. The building began as a Byzantine citadel in the late 7th century. When the Knights Hospitaller took control of Rhodes and nearby islands like Kalymnos and Kastellorizo in 1309, they turned the fortress into their administrative hub and the residence of their Grand Master.

In the early 1300s, they carried out repairs and significant renovations. An earthquake in 1481 caused damage, which was soon fixed. After the Ottoman Empire captured the island in 1522, the structure served as a command post and fortress. In 1856, lightning struck a gunpowder magazine beneath the nearby Church of Saint John—possibly left over from the 1522 siege—triggering a huge explosion that killed many, destroyed the church, and heavily damaged the Grand Master's Palace.

The upper floors mostly collapsed, but the ground floor rooms remained intact. During Italian rule, the Ottoman-era additions were removed, and architect Vittorio Mesturino, an expert in medieval architecture and preservation, was tasked with reconstructing the palace and also working on the Street of the Knights. With no surviving remains or records from before the Ottoman period, Mesturino chose to create a building that also met the Italian authorities' need for a functional government headquarters, one that would draw on the prestige of the Hospitaller legacy.

Work took place from 1937 to 1940. Mesturino's reconstruction has faced criticism for lacking historical accuracy and for making unnecessary changes to the original castle remains; one scholar even called it "horrendous fascist taste." The palace later became a holiday retreat for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and then for Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, whose name remains on a large plaque near the entrance.