Church of Agios Ioannis Prodromos (St. John the Baptist)

Dedicated to the saint patron of the Knightly Order, this church is located within short distance from the Gate designated by the same name. The church is believed to have resulted from the modification of an earlier construction, by order of Grand Master Giovanni Battista degli Orsini (1467-1476).
Its proximity to the fortifications of the city cost this rather miniscule chapel a practical burial under loads of earth – sometimes as high as 3 meters – that resulted from reinforcement works at that particular site, commissioned by Grand Master Fabrizio del Carretto (1512-1521). The construction suffered more interventions and modifications in the wake of the successful Ottoman siege (1522), before it was converted into a mosque.
In the late ‘60s, the Greek Archaeological Service had the church reinstated after remedying various static problems as well as restoring frescoes in the church’s interior.