Lazaretto - public library of Cres
Every medieval city had to have a lazaretto, a quarantine station for pilgrims and the sick. The term lazaretto comes from Lazarus the beggar from the Gospel of Luke, and the term quarantine is derived from the Italian word quaranta, meaning forty (the number of days travellers had to spend in isolation before being allowed entrance to a city).
The late-Gothic lazaretto in Cres was built just outside the city walls in the mid-15th century. An annex that was discovered later on was probably a quarantine building for sailors and travellers. The lazaretto in located next to the church of the Holy Spirit. In front of the building there is a 14th-century well-curb with the coat of arms of an unknown family.
The lazaretto was later repurposed as an almshouse. The public library was transfered there in 2005. Our renowned architect Idris Turato was the author of the architectural project to repurpose the building as a public library.