“Famous Greek landmarks”: Students have singled out their favourite Greek landmark (place/monument) and presented it to the rest of the class.

1. The Palace of the Grand Master of the
Knights of Rhodes

2. About the Castle
The palace was built in the early 14th century by
the Knights of Rhodes, who controlled Rhodes and
some other Greek islands from 1309 to 1522, to
house the Grand Master of the Order.. It had very
imposing dimensions (80x75 m.) and defensive
fortifications. It was so strong that during the siege
of 1522 it suffered little damage. The main entrance
is in the south facade, flanked by two imposing
towers. The west facade is pierced by a gate, in
front of which rises a tall, square tower, probably
the work of the Grand Master Pierre d'Aubusson
(1476-1503).

3. 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.
On 10 February 1947, the Treaty of Peace with
Italy, one of the Paris Peace Treaties, determined
that the recently-established Italian Republic would
transfer the Dodecanese Islands to Greece. In 1948,
Rhodes and the rest of the Dodecanese were
transferred as previously agreed. The palace was
then converted to a museum, and is today visited
by the millions of tourists that come to Rhodes.

4. The museum exhibits various artistic creations, folk
art from antiquity,medieval weapons, medieval
tombstones, jewelry, books, paintings, statues and
other findings.
Nowadays, the whole building is the largest tourist
attraction in the medieval city of Rhodes!

5. SOURCES
• http://en.wikipedia.org
Vassilis, Stathis