Grand Masters Palace, Rhodes Old Town

Grand Masters Palace - Rhodes visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Grand Masters Palace' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Dodecanese.

The Grand Masters Palace stands in the Old Town on Rhodes on Rhodes island in Greece. The full name of the palace is the 'Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes'. It was built in the 14th Century by the Knights of Rhodes, whose official, if long winded, name is 'Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta'. These knights occupied Rhodes from 1309 until the island was captured by the Ottomans in 1522. The Grand Masters Palace was then used as a fortress and ammunitions store.

The original palace was destroyed in an explosion in 1856 and was rebuilt by the Italians who occupied the island in 1912. It was then used as a holiday residence for Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, and later for Benito Mussolini. Today the palace is one of the main tourist attractions in Rhodes and has been converted into a musem. This panorama shows the main courtyard of the Grand Masters Palace. The original palace was destroyed