Konaki-Kastellorizo

The Konaki is a small, detached fortification standing below the hilltop Castello Rosso, above the harbour of Kastellorizo. It was probably raised in the later phase of the Knights of St John’s rule over the island, which they first seized in 1306 on their way to Rhodes. Built without flanking towers, it retains some of the Order’s characteristic battlements, though these may have been reconstructed. The building’s neoclassical portal and tall windows belong to a late nineteenth-century redesign. During the Ottoman period an upper floor was added, and it served as the seat of the Turkish governor, earning it the name Konaki, the Greek form of the Turkish Konak. From its position there is clear visual contact with the Castello Rosso, the Vígla and the Palaiókastro. Restored in 1984, the Konaki now houses one of the island’s two museums, and its condition is described as very good.