Library of the Institute of Archaeology

Housed in what once was the “Old Hospital”, also known as the “Arsenal House”, this library, part of the Archaeological Service of the Dodecanese has had the present outlook since the most recent modifications brought to the premises under the Italian rule (1912-1943). The early14th century construction is situated in north-eastern zone of the Medieval City, right across from the Inn of the Tongue of Auvergne. According to relevant historical sources, the premises used to be operational even before 1338, housing a dispensary and a chapel. Such functions seemingly continued through to 1490 or so, by which time the greater Hospital of the Knights was operational.
The main hall on the floor boasts of a surface of some 20 square meters. As the coat of arms, featured on its outer flank, suggests, it was commissioned by Grand Master del Carretto (1513-1521). Another five blazons reveal that this construction has over time undergone several and as drastic modifications, as of which it was also endowed with some extensions. Four of such blazons, carved in a marble boulder – namely those of the Order and those of the Houses of Grand Masters Villeneuve (1319-1346), de Gozon (1345-1353) and de Corneillan (1353-1355) – were found during restoration works carried out during the Italian rule, whereas the fifth blazon, heralding the House of Grand Master Roger des Pins (1355-1356), under whose mandate the construction of the Hospital – or some module thereof – was apparently completed, is located on the eastern flank of the vaulted construction.