National Theater of Rhodes to be Restored by 2025

The National Theater of Rhodes will be fully restored and operational by the end of 2025, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni announced last week.

Following a meeting on Friday with South Aegean Governor George Hatzimarkos and Rhodes Mayor Antonis Kabourakis, Mendoni said the project’s tender will launch within the first six months of 2022.

Budgeted at 17.23 million euros, the project will be financed by the Greek Culture Ministry with 16.8 million euros to be allocated from the Recovery Fund. The South Aegean Region and the Rhodes Municipality will contribute with 400,000 euros and 35,000, respectively.

According to Mendoni, the ministry has approved the project’s preliminary designs, while the technical report for its financing has already been submitted to the Recovery Fund.

“Our aim is not only to restore this monument but also to ensure its reopening under modern standards and capabilities,” she said.

South Aegean Governor George Hatzimarkos, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and Rhodes Mayor Antonis Kabourakis

A center of culture

The National Theater of Rhodes was built in the 1930s, based on the designs of architect Armando Bernabiti, and operated under the name “Teatro Giacomo Puccini”.

The last major renovation took place in the 1970s, and altered the building’s inner gallery as well as its acoustics.

The theater was declared a preserved building in 1986. Since then it has suffered several damages.

The restoration project is expected to transform the building into a center of culture complete with theater, dance and music halls, as well as halls for permanent and periodic exhibitions, multipurpose spaces, a shop and a recreation area.

The project also foresees landscaping works in the surrounding area, with the creation of sidewalks and the theater’s unification with the adjacent archaeological excavation, the nearby Municipal Theater and the “Rodon” open-air movie theater.