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Origin and history

The island between the streets Viollet-le-Duc, Louis Blanc, Corneille and Right was once named Île de l'Hôpital de la Croix, a hospital foundation attested in 1377, then in 1631 and 1639. This institution, united at St Paul's Hospital on an undetermined date, gave its name to a set of houses, including the Logis du Tapis Royal. The present building incorporates parts of this house as well as two houses gathered between 1576 and 1641, during which period the gate, the porches on courtyard and the stairway were built.

The gate, decorated with light bosses contrasting with grey stones, presents scabs carved with fruits and vegetables. A broken pediment, originally designed for a now extinct cartridge, was replaced at the beginning of the twentieth century by two shields found in the garden. Inside, a covered passage leads to a courtyard where a gallery staircase, supported by a three arched portal in the middle, dominates the space. The walls incorporate ancient stones discovered on site, including a bas-relief representing a galley, a witness to the Gallo-Roman occupation.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1946 for its portal, this building illustrates the superposition of the epochs: from ancient remains to transformations of the 16th-17th centuries. The ensemble reflects the urban history of Narbonne, marked by architectural reuses and memorial strata, from antiquity to modern times.

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