Palaces and lodgings of the Knights of St John at Malta

Abstract

Valletta, the capital of Malta, is a city entirely conceived, developed and inhabited as a conventual headquarters by the Hospitaller Knights of St John from 1571 to 1798. Being founded in the wake of the memorable victory attained over Moslem besieging forces,4 the new city was outlined after defensive and urban plans laid out by Francesco Lapparelli (1521-1570; a military engineer in the employ of Pope Pius V), thus emerging as the ‘fulcrum’ of the Order’s operational existence, the seat of their ‘Convent’, ruling their island-home as well as administering their immense wealth of property and estates scattered all over Europe. The city follows an ordinate plan of geometric symmetry whereby all streets neatly intersect at right-angles, and where in a matter of time sumptuous churches, palaces and houses belonging to affluent knights were built, knights who shaped the history of the island linking it to Europe’s prestigious noble families. The fortified city, with its powerful walls, bastions, towers and deep ditches, encapsulated a microcosm of architectural inspirations: from the rigid austerity of Mannerism to the ornate exuberance of Baroque, from the intricate floridity of Rococo to the restrained sobriety of Neo-Classicism. And moreover, Valletta essentially portrayed a city of tastes and traditions from Europe, artistic currents drawn by the knights’ own patronage, introducing works of art of international provenance. The knights with their European connections opened the doors for an influx of architects, artists and craftsmen to sojourn, and at times permanently settle on the island. It was also the knights who through their financial resourcefulness rendered possible a remarkable patrimony for themselves as well as for the island, their adoptive home. The city of Valletta is their monument to posterity.