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At the dawn of the 20th century, Rhodes was a city marked by centuries of change and recent catastrophe. Years of Ottoman governance had left their imprint, and the earthquake of 1856 had severely damaged the city’s structural fabric.
When Italian forces took control in 1912, they brought with them a sweeping vision—not of modernization, but of historical revival. The Italian restoration in Rhodes was more than a conservation project.
It was a calculated transformation rooted in ideological motives, aiming to resurrect the medieval identity of the island and promote a glorified Latin past.
When the Italians arrived during the Italo-Turkish War, they encountered a fractured city—rich in history but visibly wounded. Rather than overhaul Rhodes with a contemporary design, the new rulers launched a monumental project to reclaim its medieval character.
Their focus centered on reviving the architectural legacy of the Knights Hospitaller. Under the leadership of architects like Florestano Di Fausto, attention turned to landmarks such as the Palace of the Grand Master, the Street of the Knights, and the defensive walls. These efforts formed the backbone of the Italian restoration in Rhodes, driven by a romanticized vision of chivalric Europe and classical grandeur.
The approach taken by Italian planners was not strictly archaeological. Instead, it was selective and intentional. Structures tied to the Ottoman period—mosques, public baths, fountains—were dismantled, deemed incompatible with the image Italy sought to project. In their place, elements associated with medieval Christianity were preserved or recreated.
Gothic arches, Latin inscriptions, and heraldic symbols were added, often designed from scratch to align with historical aesthetics. This curated transformation blurred the boundaries between authentic restoration and deliberate reinvention. The Italian restoration in Rhodes thus walked a fine line between fidelity to the past and fabrication of a desired narrative.
By the 1930s, the restored city had become an emblem of Fascist cultural ambition. The Italian restoration in Rhodes was showcased internationally as proof of Italy’s civilizing mission in the eastern Mediterranean. Museums were inaugurated, and the urban core was cleaned and beautified. Restored monuments served as the backdrop for political events, exhibitions, and state ceremonies.
Tourism, too, was part of the agenda. Visitors were drawn to a city that appeared frozen in time—a medieval jewel polished by modern hands. While the restorations often received praise for their quality and attention to detail, they also carried the weight of political symbolism and erasure.
While many admired the physical results of the Italian restoration in Rhodes, critics pointed to what was lost in the process. Ottoman and Jewish architectural elements were not only neglected—they were often actively removed. The restoration promoted one layer of Rhodes’ history at the expense of others.
In seeking to emphasize the legacy of the Knights, the Italians silenced centuries of multicultural presence. The result was both beautiful and troubling: a city reborn, but selectively so. Rhodes gained a cohesive visual identity, but at the cost of its full historical spectrum.
The Italian restoration in Rhodes fundamentally reshaped how the world views the island’s medieval town. Through reconstruction, reinterpretation, and at times erasure, the Italians gave new prominence to Rhodes’ chivalric past. The buildings that stand today—grand, symmetrical, and evocative—are not mere remnants of the Middle Ages, but the product of a 20th-century vision.
As one walks through the restored streets and fortifications, it becomes clear that history here is layered and curated. The legacy of the restoration lives on—both in the stones and in the stories they no longer tell.
The above article is based on the book ‘Ρόδος’ authored by Theofanis Bogiannos. The article is published with his permission.
