Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library

Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library is an important historic Ottoman building in the medieval city of Rhodes in Greece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The library was founded by Hafiz Ahmed Agha in 1793.

Hafiz Ahmed Agha was born in the village of Asgourou (Turkish: Uzgur Köyü), 3 km to the south from the present center of the city of Rhodes, in the middle of the 18th century in a wealthy, established Ottoman family. He was educated in the Imperial Court and later became the Chief Equerry of the Sultan. He retired in 1789, but was reactivated and became a member of the regular delegations travelling to Mecca with the yearly presents of the sultan to the Sharif of Mecca. He died on such a travel some time between 1800-1802.

He founded this library for the literate public of his home town with 1995 manuscripts from the entire scope of Islamic science in 1793. The institution became a center of learning. Hafiz Ahmed Agha paid the librarians also for teaching the Arabic language, which was necessary for the reading of the texts.

Presently there are 1256 manuscripts in the possession of the library. Among the most valuables there is a Koran from 1540, the history of the Turkish siege of the city in 1522, and manuscripts with Persian miniatures. On the walls of there are old maps and engravings of the town.

Gallery

Sources

• Davies, Paul Harcourt. Rhodes. 
• Mavromataki (ed), Maria. Rhodes. Athens: Haitalis. 
• Information tables in the Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library, Rhodes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library.

Ottoman Greece
Ethnarchy	Rum Millet Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
People	Ottoman Greeks Phanariotes Dragomans Greek Muslims Ali Pasha
Major centres	Cities: Patras Thessaloniki Ioannina Missolonghi Tripoli Larissa Islands: Chios Hydra Spetses
Division	Rumelia Eyalet Ioannina Eyalet Salonica Eyalet Morea Eyalet Eyalet of the Archipelago Janina Vilayet Salonica Vilayet Vilayet of the Archipelago Ottoman Crete
Sanjaks	Sanjak of Kavala Sanjak of Drama Sanjak of Salonica Sanjak of Tirhala Sanjak of Eğriboz Sanjak of Ioannina Sanjak of Preveza Sanjak of Inebahti Karli-Eli Sanjak of Nakşa Berre Sanjak of Sakız Sanjak of Rhodes
Autonomies	Principality of Samos (1834) Cretan State (1898)
Military	Ottoman Sipahis Armatoloi Outside the Empire Ioan Iacob Heraclid Stratioti Greek Battalion of Balaklava Lambros Katsonis Alexandros Ypsilantis
Wars/Battles	Ottoman–Venetian War (1463–79) Battle of Preveza Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–73) Battle of Lepanto Cretan War (1645–69) Morean War Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18) Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) Orlov Revolt Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca Greek War of Independence Morea expedition Epirus Revolt of 1854 Cretan Revolt (1866–69)
Influence in culture	Orthodoxy in Greece (1453–1821) Greek folk music Rebetiko Greek shipping Greek cuisine
Modern Greek Enlightenment	People: Rigas Feraios Eugenios Voulgaris Anthimos Gazis Theophilos Kairis Schools: Kaplaneios School Athonite Academy Evangelical School of Smyrna New Academy (Moscopole)
Monuments	Alaca Imaret Mosque Aslan Pasha Mosque Bey Hamam Çelebi Sultan Mehmed Mosque Fethiye Mosque (Athens) Fethiye Mosque (Ioannina) Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library Karipeion Melathron New Mosque (Thessaloniki) Osman Shah Mosque Tzistarakis Mosque White Tower of Thessaloniki
Greeks outside the Empire	Communities: London Venice Trieste Marseille Livorno Odessa Vienna Bucharest Alexandria Schools: Flanginian School Princely Academy of Bucharest

Coordinates: 36°26′37″N 28°13′26″E / 36.4437°N 28.2239°E / 36.4437; 28.2239