Decorative Arts Collection

The Decorative Arts Collection Museum is located in the Armory Knights building in Argyrokastro Square of the Medieval Town of Rhodes.

Exhibits of four centuries, from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century, coming from the Folklore Archive of the Dodecanese, the Ethnographic Collection of Italians, donations and excavations.

The Decorative Arts Collection Museum was founded in 1966 by the Archaeological Service of the Dodecanese, with its main core being the objects of folk art, which had been collected during the period of the Italian occupation by the folklorist Marica Montessanto. Under the responsibility of the Italians, their first exhibition was held in the Villaragut Equestrian Building, constituting the Ethnographic Museum.

The rich collection of exhibits includes mainly embroideries, wood carvings, metalwork and ceramics. Among the exhibits we find samples of pottery from Nicaea (16th to 19th century), samples of local pottery from the villages of Rhodes, plates from Armenian houses of Kyutachia, ceramics of European origin from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as wood-carved objects and furniture.

An important place is occupied by traditional women’s clothing from the villages of Kritinia and Embonas of Rhodes, from the surrounding islands, such as Symi, Chalki, Tilos, Nisyros, Karpathos, Astypalaia, but also from other regions of Greece. The space has been properly designed and the objects have been placed in such a way as to represent the houses of the Dodecanese during the period of the Turkish occupation. 

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