Church of Our Lady of the Castle – Rhodes

The Church of Our Lady of the Castle – Rhodes Greece

is located at the eastern end of Knights Street, in Collakio of the Medieval City Rhodes island. 

The original core of the building was probably built in the 11th century. and belonged 

to the type of cruciform with a domed temple. 

This architectural phase is evident until the birth of the arches.

After the capture of Rhodes by the Knights of Ioannina, the Byzantine church 

was rebuilt and took the form of a three-aisled Gothic basilica with a transverse aisle. 

The coats of arms of Grand Master Helion de Villeneuve and Pope John XXII, 

preserved in the central stonewall of the arch, support the dating of this phase between 1319 and 1334.

The eastern side of the temple is in contact with the sea fortification and is formed externally into a tower with rectangular mounts. 

On the west side, above the central entrance door, is a large rectangular frame, 

which would host a lost composition today of the Virgin Mary with knights and knights.

During the Turkish occupation, the church was converted

 into a mosque and was called the Entererum Mosque. 

At the same time, a gallery was built and minarets were erected on the south side,

 building elements removed during the restoration work of the monument during the Italian occupation of the island.

Few relics are preserved from the church’s paintings.

It is worth mentioning the Panagia Infant and couples of saints on the northwestern pillar

(second 14th century) and the figure of Saint Lucia on the south wall, a work of a probably

Western European painter (2nd half of the 14th century).

Author
Constantia Kefala, archaeologist