Marine Gate

This Gate is located right across from the medieval commercial harbour and the open public space of the town where multitude civic events used to take place, assorted to the trade activities of Rhodes. The Gate was constructed in 1478 under the auspices of Grand Master Pierre d’ Aubusson (1476-1503), in what is a series of deliberate resemblances to the main Gate to the town of Villeneuve- lès-Avignon, commissioned by the French sovereign Philippe le Bel two centuries earlier.
On the front side of the Gate there are featured in relief the effigies of the Virgin holding the Holy Infant, St. John the Baptist and St. Peter. Also featured are the coats of arms of France, of the Order of St. John as well as the blazon of the House of d’Aubusson. Moreover, a heavily worn inscription may still be seen, acknowledging Grand Master d’Aubusson for the commissioning of this Gate, in 1478. On the inner side of the Gate there may be seen yet another inscription and the effigy of an Angel brandishing the coats of arms of the Order as well as of the House of d’Aubusson.
The interior of the towers is structured in three levels of vaulted halls. There are two halls of different sizes on the lower level, two hexagonal halls on the middle level and two rectangular halls on the third level of each tower. On top of each one of such towers there used to stand the defence module, featuring a sequence of machicolations (devices through which burning oil used to pour down to the assailants at the level of the Gate), providing coverage for both the outer and the inner side of the Gate. During the Italian rule (1912-1943), the entire port structure developed by the Ottomans was eliminated.