Rhodes: Countdown for the restoration of the National Theater

The Program Development Contract for the restoration of the National Theater of Rhodes was signed by the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, the Governor of the South Aegean and the Mayor of Rhodes Antonis Kampourakis.

The minister and the governor also signed a Program Agreement for the restoration of the Neoclassical School in the Medieval City of Rhodes.

The Contract for the “Restoration and reopening of the National Theater of Rhodes” has a budget of 17,235,000 euros, while the Contract for the Neoclassical School amounts to 3,500,000 euros. Both projects are included by the Ministry of Culture for funding from the Recovery Fund with the aim of completing the projects by the end of 2025.

Mendoni: The project will be completed by the end of 2025

As the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni stated: “It is a big day today for Rhodes and Culture. The National Theater, the “Giacomo Puccini” Theater, is now entering a path of restoration and performance, first of all to the citizens of Rhodes, but also to its visitors and to all Greeks. It is a very important monument with a very large cultural footprint in the local community. When last November we visited the monument with the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Regional Governor and the Mayor, we all said that this project will be completed. Today, this is becoming a reality. The Region undertakes the auction of the project as soon as possible, and by the end of 2025, the project will be completed. It is another page for the cultural affairs of the Aegean, Rhodes, Dodecanese, our country that starts today. I really want to thank the Governor George Hatzimarkos for the excellent cooperation, for the trust and the good choice with which he always surrounds all our choices. I would like to especially thank the Mayor of Rhodes, Antonis Kampourakis, who from the first moment worked with us and believed that what many others considered impossible could become a reality. We said it, we committed ourselves, we did it “.

For his part, the Regional Governor of South Aegio, George Hatzimarkos, stressed that “it is a very big day for Rhodes, for the South Aegean and for Greece. An important element of the country’s cultural heritage as a whole, the National Theater of Rhodes or the “Puccini” Theater, as it was called when it was erected. Today, the signatures of the Minister, the Mayor of Rhodes and myself were included in the Program Contract, which marks its rebirth. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank the Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni, who with her own love first of all, the care, care and interest of the Prime Minister himself and the cooperation of the first and second degree of self-government, the Mayor of Rhodes Mr. Kambourakis and our Region are now very close to bidding for a project that has been a goal for decades. I think that this whole route shows the way which is the Greece we want, which is the Greece we deserve and how we will reach it. “There is a very big political message and symbolism behind this work, which makes us very proud to be in the office of the Minister today and to leave excited having won something that we can pass on to the next generations with dignity.”

What the restoration project provides for

The restoration project of the National Theater of Rhodes envisages the elaboration of studies in the phase of implementation studies, works for the restoration and functional and aesthetic upgrade of the building. Also included are all the necessary configurations and facilities for the operation of the stage, the Conference-Translation Center, the audiovisual media, the intercom and security systems, the theatrical lighting, as well as the configuration of the surrounding area around the building.

The National Theater of Rhodes was built in the 1930s, designed by architect Armando Bernabiti and operated under the name “Teatro Giacomo Puccini”. From 1981 onwards there was no systematic maintenance work and the building, by 2006 showed significant damage. In 2005 it passed to the responsibility of the Directorate of Medieval City and Monuments of the Municipality of Rhodes. It was designated as a historical monument in 1988, while it has also been declared a monument in 1986 by the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Public Works.

The Programmatic Convention for Cultural Development for the restoration of the Neoclassical School of the Medieval City of Rhodes and the promotion of its surrounding area provides for the consolidation and the static restoration of the building, as well as its architectural restoration. The Program Agreement was signed between the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the South Aegean Region.

The building of the neoclassical school of the Medieval city of Rhodes was built at the end of the 19th century and is a typical example of the architecture of the Ottoman period. It was in operation until the late 1980s, when it was abandoned due to serious static problems.

The first phase of restoration and promotion of the neoclassical school of the Medieval City of Rhodes was implemented in the period 2011-2015, through the PEP-NSRF 2007-2013. The second phase envisages the completion of the construction works, so that the building becomes operational.