Rhodes Archaeological Museum

The Rhodes Archaeological Museum displays mostly Classical and Hellenistic as well as some Archaic artefacts including statues, funereal pieces and decorative items.

The building in which the Rhodes Archaeological Museum is located is also historically important, it being the Great Hospital of the Knights Hospitallers, built between 1440 and 1489. This Christian military order was based in Rhodes at the time and the Great Hospital is part of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage listing.

Rhodes Archaeological Museum history

In the centre of the Medieval Town, the building that is now the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes, was constructed by the Grand Master Jean de Lastic in 1440 and later enlarged by the Grand Master d’Aubusson in 1481-89, was used as the Main Hospital of the Cavaliers of St. John.

It was built around a pebble courtyard, following the principles of the Medieval Hospice Architecture. Exactly opposite the arched entrance stands a big stone pedestal with a sited lion that holds with his forelegs the head of Taurus.

The Hospital was extensively restored during the Italian occupation in 1913-18 and it has been used as a museum since then.

Rhodes Archaeological Museum today

The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes exhibits very important collections of findings that highly regarded museums like Le Louvre, are particularly keen to host periodically.

The exhibition in the first floor contains altars, sarcophaguses and other objects recovered from Ialysos, statues and steles from Kameiros and the neighbouring islands. The famous grave stele of Kalliarista, the statue of Venus, a bathing Aphrodite, the “Drunken Dionysus” and a headless statue of Artemis are just some of its exhibits. On the ground floor there are displays of ordnance from the Ottomans and Knights periods, as well as other finds.

The museum hosts a variety of collections, including Classical, Hellenistic and Roman sculpture, Mosaic floors of the Hellenistic and Early Christian period and Pyxis of the Fikellura type, one of the most distinct groups of the archaic eastern Greek and Ionian ware.

Getting to Rhodes Archaeological Museum

The museum is accessible on foot and by bus and is located near the main coastal road. The taxi station is nearby.