Jewish Martyrs Square (Plateia Evreon Martyron) is a small square in La Juderia, the old Jewish quarter of the walled Old Town of Rhodes, with a fountain of bronze seahorses in the middle. It is named after the Jews of Rhodes and Kos who were deported by the Nazis in July 1944 and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. A six-sided memorial in the square remembers them in six languages.
Jewish Martyrs Square at a glance
- Where: in the eastern part of Rhodes Old Town, in the former Jewish quarter, a few minutes' walk from Hippocrates Square.
- Named: after Rhodes became part of Greece in 1947–1948; the Holocaust memorial was unveiled on 23 July 2002.
- What it is today: a quiet square with cafés and shops, the main Holocaust memorial of Rhodes and the starting point for visiting the old Jewish quarter.
- Time needed: 10–15 minutes for the square; an hour or more with the Kahal Shalom Synagogue and the Jewish Museum nearby.
La Juderia and July 1944
Jews lived in the eastern part of the walled city for centuries. The community numbered around 500 people at the end of the 16th century and grew in the 19th century, under Ottoman rule, to a peak of roughly 4,500 to 5,000. Emigration then reduced it, and by the Second World War, when Rhodes had been Italian since 1912, about 1,800 Jews lived on the island. The square itself was left open where houses of the quarter were destroyed by bombing during the war.
After Italy's armistice in 1943, German forces took control of Rhodes. In July 1944 the Jews of the island were ordered to gather, held for several days and shipped with the Jews of Kos to Piraeus, then sent from the Haidari camp near Athens to Auschwitz-Birkenau: the last transport of Greek Jews to the camp. About 1,670 people from Rhodes and about 65 from Kos were deported, most were murdered on arrival in August 1944, and only around 150 survived. The Turkish consul general, Selahattin Ülkümen, saved a number of Jews by claiming them as Turkish citizens, and was later honoured by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.
What to look for
- The seahorse fountain: the fountain in the middle of the square, with three bronze seahorses, built in the Italian period to replace an earlier fountain.
- The Holocaust memorial: a six-sided column of dark stone whose sides recall the Star of David, unveiled on 23 July 2002, the anniversary of the deportation. It opens with the words 'Never forget' and remembers 1,604 Jewish martyrs of Rhodes and Kos.
- The six languages of the inscription: Hebrew, Greek, English, Ladino, French and Italian, the languages of the community and of the island's history.
- The 'Admiralty': the medieval stone building on the square, traditionally called the Admiralty and also associated with the Catholic archbishops of the Knights' period.
- The houses around you: the low stone houses and arches of La Juderia, where some families still live, along lanes that lead off the square towards the synagogue.
A Spanish-speaking community
Most Jews of Rhodes were Sephardic, descendants of Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, and at home they spoke Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish. The main street of the quarter was La Kaye Ancha, 'the wide street' in Ladino, where weddings and other processions passed. Many families emigrated in the early 20th century, to Africa, the Americas and elsewhere, which is why the community's descendants are spread around the world and many come back to see the synagogue and the square.
Tips for your visit
- This is a place of remembrance: keep your voice down near the memorial, and do not sit or climb on it.
- Combine the square with the Kahal Shalom Synagogue and the Jewish Museum of Rhodes, a couple of minutes' walk away; check their opening times before you go.
- Come in the morning, before the main shopping streets of the Old Town fill up, or in the evening, when the square is calm and the cafés around the fountain are lit.
Nearby
- Kahal Shalom Synagogue: built in 1577 and the oldest synagogue in Greece, a couple of minutes' walk away in the lanes of La Juderia.
- Jewish Museum of Rhodes: opened in 1997 beside the synagogue, with photographs, documents and objects from the life of the community.
- Hippocrates Square: the busy square with the Kastellania, the Knights' trading court of 1507, a few minutes' walk west.
- Palace of the Grand Master: the Knights' palace at the top of the Street of the Knights, at the far end of the Old Town.
See Rhodes with World City Trail
Our Rhodes scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 2 hours, with about 30 minutes of walking. It includes the Palace of the Grand Master and the Street of the Knights in the medieval Old Town. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish or Greek.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Rhodes.
Play the Rhodes scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Rhodes →
Play the outdoor escape game in Rhodes →
Facts checked in October 2026.