The Palace of The Grand Master TODAY You enter the palace via the grand twin-turreted gateway that leads to a large inner courtyard. There are statues from the Roman and Hellenistic periods that stand beneath the lower level arcades. There are more than 150 rooms inside the palace, of which 24 are open to visitors. The building is rectangular in plan and divided into three levels. On the first floor visitors can tour the large Hall of the Council, the Knights’ dining hall and the private chambers of the Grand Master. Many of the rooms feature exhibitions that depict the history of Rhodes, the Knights of St. John and the Dodecanese Islands. There are displays of 16th and 17th century furniture, antique armor, carpets and vases.
The floors are decorated with mosaics of late Hellenistic, Roman, and early Christian times, excavated on the island of Kos. One of the most famous is the mosaic of Medusa from the 2nd century BC. Medusa is the Greek mythological monster who had snakes instead. ...