fragments of carved stone in churchyard of Panayia tou Kastrou church
The church of Panayia tou Kastrou - Our Lady of the Castle - was originally a Byzantine cathedral and was built in the late 11th century.
It was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral after Rhodes was taken over by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in 1309, and then into a mosque after the Ottoman Turks took over in 1522. When the Italians captured Rhodes in 1912 the additions made by the Turks (e.g. the mihrab and minaret) were removed.
fragments of carved stone in churchyard of Panayia tou Kastrou church
The church of Panayia tou Kastrou - Our Lady of the Castle - was originally a Byzantine cathedral and was built in the late 11th century.
It was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral after Rhodes was taken over by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in 1309, and then into a mosque after the Ottoman Turks took over in 1522. When the Italians captured Rhodes in 1912 the additions made by the Turks (e.g. the mihrab and minaret) were removed.