The museum is located within a 15th-century hospital building constructed by the Knights Hospitaller of St. John.
The famous 'Aphrodite of Rhodes' statue, depicted in a bath, dates to the 1st century BC.
The upper floor once served as the 'Great Ward' for patients, which was restored to preserve its original medieval dimensions.
Many of the museum's items were excavated by the Italian Archaeological School during the period of the Italian occupation of the Dodecanese.
The courtyard features a large, ancient Hellenistic mosaic floor brought from the Governor’s Palace.
The museum collection includes rare votive stelae from the sanctuary of Kamiros.
The central courtyard contains a stone lion statue standing over a bull, a symbol frequently seen in Rhodian iconography.
The building's architecture intentionally combines Gothic, Byzantine, and Hellenistic elements due to the adaptive reuse of local stone.
Several epitaphs of the Knights of the Order are embedded into the walls of the museum floors.
The Archaeological Museum of Rhodes is housed in the 15th-century Hospital of the Knights of Saint John within the Medieval City of Rhodes. It is the primary repository for archaeological findings from Rhodes and its surrounding islands. The building is a prime example of Gothic architecture, featuring an internal courtyard surrounded by vaulted galleries. The collection spans from the Mycenaean period through the Hellenistic era. Key artifacts include the marble Aphrodite of Rhodes and a collection of funerary vases. The museum occupies the former infirmary of the Knights Hospitaller, preserving structural elements of the medieval facility. Extensive stone-carved coats of arms decorate the facade and interior spaces, representing the nobility of the period. The museum layout forces a logical progression through galleries that once served as patient wards. It functions as both a site-specific monument and a display space for antiquities.
The central arched courtyard looking towards the medieval stone staircase.
Wear comfortable, flat shoes as the original medieval stone floors can be uneven and slippery.
The building has poor climate control in some galleries; visit during cooler parts of the day.
Take time to examine the courtyard inscriptions, as they provide context often missed by focusing only on the statuary.
Do not rush through the courtyard; many visitors skip the smaller lapidarium collections located in the side chambers.
Closed on certain public holidays and occasionally on specific weekdays during the low season.
Respect silence in the galleries and avoid touching the uncovered stone artifacts.
