Description

An attractive pictorial map showcases Rhodes and its legends, history and traditions. The composition is dominated by the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the illustrations in the area of the sea represent the modernized cities, as built under Fascist Italy.

The folding map with a tourist information on the back was also issued as a poster in the same year to boost up the tourism of the island. The artist was Egon Huber, born 1926 in Austria, and the publisher Italian State Tourist Department (ENIT).

Since 1923 Rhodes was a part of the Fascist Italy and belonged to so called Italian Islands of the Aegean. The cities were mostly rebuilt under the architect Florestano Di Fausto (1890 – 1965), who removed most of the Ottoman buildings, erected modern Fascist buildings in eclectic styles, designed a new promenade and squares. The suburbs of the capital on the north are now ornated with a large cross and monuments memorizing the Knight’s period. They are replacing the old Jewish and Ottoman cemetery.

Our map represents the island and its new Fascist architecture, which stood on the island until it was partly destroyed in the bombings of 1944.

We could find one institutional example (Princeton University Library, and possibly National Library of Israel, OCLC 907802589).

References: OCLC 462907138.