Inn of the Tongue of Spain

Designated as the official barracks for the knights of Spanish origin, this edifice is located halfway up on the Street of the Knights, its proportions making of it the largest of Inns within the Medieval City of Rhodes. The complex comprises two buildings, the ground level of which is split by a vaulted passageway, very much reminiscent of the “Loggia” Hall, in Majorca. The coat of arms of the House of Grand Master Antoine Fluvian (1421-1437), under the rule of whom the construction of this Inn was commissioned, may be seen in various parts of the edifice.
Judging from the blazons of the House of Grand Master Emery d’Amboise (1503-1512), featured around the first floor of this Inn and what with various historic references to the Ottoman sieges of 1480 and 1522, interventions and reinstatement came to be necessary on various occasions both before and during the Ottoman rule and through to the 20th century. The Spanish influence on the design of the construction may easily be detected through the elliptic frame of the imposing entrance (typical of the Catalan architectural tradition) as well as the seven blazons ornating the window on the first floor, unmistakably bearing witness to the Inn’s history. A marble piece that used to complement the entrance’s façade is presently on show in Constantinople.