 The site was previously a citadel of the Knights Hospitaller that functioned as a palace, headquarters, and fortress.According to recent study, in the exact spot in which the palace exists today, there was the foundations of the ancient temple of the Sun-god 'Helios' and probably that was the spot where Colossus of Rhodes stood in the Antiquity.The palace was originally built in the late 7th century as a Byzantine citadel.