The content of the islands of Rhodes, Kalymnos and Kos have been curated by the University of Crete (Greece).
Italian "occupation" of the Dodecanese Islands began in the 1920s and accelerated under Mussolini in the 1930s. 25 years of Italian presence left an important architectural legacy still visible today. The architectural styles that characterise the buildings constructed under the Italians can be distinguished in various categories:
- eclecticism indpired by architectural models of Nothern Italy (mainly Venice), with renaissance anf baroque elements and themes
- mixture of "oriental" and "Arabic" elements whose main features are domes, arches and parapets
- combination of the first two „styles“, thus creating a particular morphological expression with "Arabic-Mediterranean" characteristics of Italian eclecticism
- "fascist" architecture, where buildings are distinguished by their cubic volume, clear lines of views and a general imposition on the surrounding area.
While the first three styles can be found on the three islands Rhodes, Kalymnos and Kos (the three largest islands of the group of twelve), "fascist" architecture is only present on the Island of Rhodes.