Italian troops took over the island and the rest of the Dodecanese in 1912 and in 1923 Italy established a colony Isole Italiane del Egeo.
The Italians demolished the houses that had been built on and beside the walls during the Ottoman era and turned the Jewish and Ottoman cemeteries into a "green zone" surrounding the Medieval Town. They preserved the remains of the Knights' period and removed all the Ottoman additions and also reconstructed the Grand Master's Palace. In addition, they established an Institute for the study of the History and Culture of the region.
The Italians undertook extensive infrastructure works (roads, electricity, port, etc.) and radically transformed the town of Rhodes, which was supplied with a new urban plan, building regulations and many new public and private buildings.