Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes (Greece)
South Aegean See list of castles in Grecia
In 1306 Foulques de Villaret, French Grand Master of the Order of St. John, bought Rhodes Genoese admiral Vignolo de'Vignoli, governor of the island. Three years later, the knights of the order, went to Rhodes, founding an autonomous state.
THE SIEGE AND THE VICTORY OF THE MAGNIFICENT SOLIMANO - For over two centuries, Rhodes was a Christian bastion off the Turkish coast, under the rule of Jerusalemites knights, as members of the order of St. John Hospital were generally called upon to Jerusalem. In 1522, Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan turkish empire - the Ottoman Empire, laid siege to the island until the 1523 New Year's Day, the difesori were forced to capitulate. Only a few knights and inhabitants survived. The Grand Master's Palace, which was the nerve center of the defense, in the following centuries it was used as a barracks, administrative center and armory, falling more and more degraded.
In 1856 lightning caused the explosion of the powder placed in the "Church of San Giovanni", which stood right next to the main entrance of the building. The church was completely destroyed, and even many parts of the building were badly damaged. The ransom was with the Italian conquest of Rhodes, in 1912. in the Italian administration thirty years (lasting until 1943), the building was reconstructed as far as possible faithful to the original, the direct concern of King Vittorio Emanuele III. Particular attention was paid to the restoration of the main door and the mighty towers that flank the building.
MOSAIC ANCIENT GREEK - The building, after restoration, was used as a headquarters mussale. It houses examples of Rhodes in ancient and medieval history, ordered in two interesting collections; but above all there are arranged various Roman period mosaics, coming mostly from the island of Kos. Of exceptional beauty is the mosaic in the "room of the Medusa," which depicts the woman from the snake hair. Exceptional is the facial representation of sea fans, the mythological creature that inspired such horror to remain petrified by just looking.